Sword Art Kingdom II: Dimensional Bonds
by Jacob Pendra-Huth
Summary: A new threat is coming about, and Sora, Kirito and Asuna are ready for the job. They are sent to Kirito and Asuna's dimension, where they have to find the Keyholes of Bonds, stop the flow of Heartless and Unversed, and stop the enemy from reaching Kingdom Hearts. It's up to Sora, Kirito, Asuna, Donald, Goofy and Yui to save the dimensions. This is a sequel to 'Sword Art Kingdom'.
1. New Threat! Adventure in a New Dimension

**This is it! The first episode of Sword Art Kingdom II: Dimensional Bonds. This is gonna be a new set of adventures, new stories awaiting, and a whole lot of fun. I do hope you enjoy this story, cause it's gonna be crazy for all of us. Read it and enjoy!**

_(I do not own Kingdom Hearts or Sword Art Online. All I do is form my imagination from both stories, and share it with the world!)_

** Prologue**

In case you don't know the adventure I've been through before, allow me to tell you about it. My name is Kazuto Kirigaya, but most people know me as Kirito in the online world. However, people know me as Kirito also in an alternate dimension. How would people know me there? Because me, along with my girlfriend Asuna and my sister Suguha, are all Keyblade wielders.

This all happened some time ago, almost five months ago. I discovered a quest in Sword Art Online that wasn't created by anyone who owns the game. So Asuna and I, along with our daughter, Yui, went to challenge this quest. Turns out it was a test made by a man named Ansem the Wise, a.k.a DiZ, and we were sent through a digital wormhole, which brought us into reality into another dimension. Not only that, but during that time, Asuna and I were granted to new powers; the ability to wield a powerful weapon called the Keyblade.

From there, we met three people who would soon be our greatest friends on our journey; Donald Duck, Goofy, and Sora, who was a chosen wielder of the Keyblade like us. Since our meeting, we went thought countless adventures together, dealing with tons of enemies called the Heartless, beings born from darkness in people's hearts, and were controlled by a witch named Maleficent and her lackey, Pete. Not only that, but there was a group of creatures called the Nobodies, shells of people who had high wills yet lost their hearts, and they were lead by a group of rather powerful Nobodies called Organization XIII. There main objective was to collect many hearts as possible. To do that, they needed those who could wield the Keyblade to slay the Heartless. I know, kind of a no win scenario on our part.

The adventure did grant us to all kinds of new experiences, however. Such things like new garments, new magic, skills and powerful forms the like we've never dreamed of having, and we got to explore countless worlds filled with all kinds of people and creatures. Some contained weird creatures that either aided us or fought against us, some had battles against powerful enemies, some even transformed our bodies into alternate forms, such as being wildcats or mer-people.

But it wasn't just us that came to this dimension, either. My sister, Suguha, who used her Alfheim Online avatar, Leafa, came here as well, along with her slow-coming boyfriend Recon. They became very helpful in many ways, and their main responsibility was to help save Sora's girlfriend, Kairi. At least, that's how Asuna sees in their relationship. She got help from two mysterious allies; Naminé, a gifted Nobody who seems to have emotions despite the fact that Nobodies have no hearts, and Riku, Sora's childhood friend.

I wish they were the only ones that came for the ride, but there was a good reason why Asuna and I came to this dimension. It was because the Organization brought someone from our dimension to their side; Sugou, a man responsible for so many crimes involving trying to control the minds of people and attempt to forcefully marry Asuna. He became a Nobody, changing his name to Gouxus, the fairy king of thieves. His duty in the Organization the to create the ability to control all the hearts of Kingdom Hearts once it was finally complete. He caused so much trouble during our journey, even going so far as to bring Aincrad, the world of SAO, into Sora's dimension. However, it was grateful that he did this, because we were able to recover the data of all the SAO avatars that have died during the two years trapped in the game, along with Akihiko Kayaba's heart.

The journey was fun, but it was rough, too. We searched for Organization XIII's stronghold, and finally discovered it after a while. Sora, Asuna, Donald, Goofy, Yui and I all took on the Organization together, along with my sister and her friends and comrades, even King Mickey. The battles were fierce, and we did defeat all of the members of Organization XIII, including Gouxus, finally concluding with the leader of the Organization itself, Xemnas. It took several battles against him, but we finished Xemnas once and for all, saved our friends, and returned the worlds to piece once more. Afterwards, my friends and family all returned to our dimension once more, where everyone was waiting for us.

Now you may think that after going through all that, I thought my adventures were over. However, they were far from over. A month later, I received a message from the King himself. It wasn't much, just asking if we would like to come join a celebration at Disney's Castle. It was to commemorate stopping Organization XIII, and for all of us to have a little fun. I know there must be more to this, if not there will be, so with all five of us ready to go, we readied ourselves to return once again to Sora's dimension. I don't know what might be in store, but I just hope that things will run smoothly. So with that, time to plug into the system. '_Link Start!_'.

_(Cue Opening: 'New World' by Twill)_

* * *

**Chapter 1: A New Darkness Awakens**

It was in a dark pathway, nothing but a swirling mist of darkness was billowing around. A man's feet were walking casually through the dark mist, his body shadowed by the blackness. He was walking towards another figure in the mist, one who's body was levitated on his back, apparently unconscious. His face was unseen, but he wore a black and red, organic-looking bodysuit.

The man walked up to the unconscious body and looked down upon it. He looked to the face, then down to his chest. "This boy… He possesses a great amount of power." the man said to himself, "I believe that this might be the source of power I will need. He could be the key to my achievements." He placed a gloved hand onto the chest of the unconscious boy, and pulsed a dark aura into his body. "Rise, my servant." he declared, "Rise, and be at my side. Rise, and we shall conquer all that is light in this world. Come forth, and we shall unlock the shackles that bind my way to the place where hearts and souls unite as one; Kingdom Hearts."

The man continued to pour in the dark energy within the body until the boy's hands started to twitch and, after a few seconds, the boy's eyes opened up, revealing them to be piercing yellow. Everything faded into darkness, but only the boy's reply could be heard from within. "Yes, my new master."

Up in the castle Villain's Vale, Maleficent was pacing around the circular room, Pete standing to one side, looking nervously at Maleficent. She was angry. Why wasn't she? After all, her plans were ruined once again by Sora and his friends, not to mention Organization XIII too. The Organization XIII's stronghold collapsed after the defeat of Xemnas, and the thousands of Heartless fell with it. Maleficent and Pete barely made it out of there themselves. And now, no thanks to the Keyblade wielders, the Heartless have decreased immensely. It was hard finding them now. People's hearts were now filled with light, and their plans have come to a standstill.

"Those imbeciles!" growled Maleficent, "How dare they ruin my plans yet again. They have continuously destroyed everything; my army of Heartless, my succession to a new castle, everything." "Well, uh, it could be worse." Pete said hesitantly, "They could've just come over here an' stomp us out!" "Silence!" Maleficent barked at Pete, making him cower, "I need to figure out a new plan. I need to destroy those wretched Keyblade wielders once and for all." "We've got nothin' to worry about then." Pete told her, "Those other three Keybladers just went up an at 'em. They ain't no longer here in any of these worlds. That just leaves that boat-boy king and the two shrimps to take care of."

"Yes, you are right for once." Maleficent agreed, "Those other three were as troublesome as the ones here. But where have they gone? Where did they go to?" "Well, I can figure somethin' out!" Pete suggested. "You? You couldn't figure out how to tie your shoe-laces, let alone find where they are!" Maleficent retorted, "We must think this out carefully. They're probably somewhere we cannot reach. A place we might be able to bring about more Heartless. But where?"

"They are in their own dimension." said a voice. Maleficent and Pete looked to the open doorway. Their stood a man whose face was shrouded by a dark cloak, wide dark green straps crossing his body, and a hood to match. Leaning on the wall next to him was the same boy that the man rescued, only now his face was masked by a biker-like helmet and black visor.

"And just who might you be?" Maleficent demanded, seeing the stranger at the door. "Merely a soul who intends to bring about the same goal as you." the man replied, walking forward to Maleficent, "The domination over all worlds." Maleficent raised her staff, ready to strike the man before her. "And do you intend to get rid of me in order to complete your goal?" she sneered. "Hardly, I wish for us to join forces." the man answered, "For it is not this dimension's worlds that I attempt to rule over, but my own; the one the other three chosen wielders of the Keyblade reside in."

Maleficent paused for a second, then lowered her staff. "So you come from the same dominion as those other Keyblade wielders?" she questioned him, "But why would you come to me, if not to rule over this dimension? What benefits would I have for joining forces with you?" "A great benefit; the power to rule over all hearts of this dimension." the man replied, walking past her and stepping outside to face the town of Hollow Bastion, "What would you say if I told you I knew how to reach Kingdom Hearts?" "I'd say what kind of trick you had in mind?" Maleficent replied, "Twice, I attempted to reach Kingdom Hearts, and twice the results have ended in failure."

"You tried reaching Kingdom Hearts through the front door, but you never checked to find any side passages into Kingdom Hearts." the man told her. "Heh! You make it sound like there's a back door to the joint!" Pete scoffed. "Exactly." the man replied, surprising Pete, "There is indeed a 'back door' to Kingdom Hearts to which you never noticed. And the location of which is within my dimension." He turned to Maleficent as he continued, "However, I don't have enough power to reach such a place, nor do I even have the actual location. But if we work together…"

"You want us to follow you so we can reach this 'back door'?" Maleficent asked scornfully. "No…at least not you, my dear Maleficent." the man replied, "We shall be equals, fighting alongside each other, destroying anyone who dares impede our path. And think about it; a new dimension means new hearts to turn dark, thus turning them into Heartless. A whole new army just waiting for you." Maleficent thought about all that he said. "And as for the doorway, it is quite simple to find it." the man continued, "All it takes to reveal Kingdom Hearts is to sever the bonds that hearts create, find the seven keys, and gather enough dark energy in order to unlock the doorway."

"Interesting." Maleficent pondered, "But you yet to clarify my previous question: What benefit would I have in joining forces with you?" "I have no interest in this dimension, but you do." the man replied, "And you don't care much for my dimension, but I do. If we unlock Kingdom Hearts, we shall have the power to rule our own dimensions respectively. No one shall defy us! We shall rule over all as king and queen of each dimension!"

A smile crossed Maleficent face. This was the opportunity she was looking for. "That is intriguing." Maleficent stated, "And together, not even those Keyblade wielders and their pitiful lackeys could stop us. We shall become great rulers of each dimension, consuming everything into darkness!" Green flames started to emanate from Maleficent's body. At the same time, swirling dark green energy spiraled around the man's body as well. The two started to chuckle, then their laughs continued to grow simultaneously until they became maniacal.

The masked boy had not moved from the spot since they entered in. Pete walked over to him. "Guess this means we're workin' together now, partner." Pete assumed. The masked boy stood up straight and looked to Pete. "Don't act like we're equals. I'm not your partner." he told him calmly, turning around and walking off, "I only work for the master, and no one else." He disappeared into the hall, leaving Pete standing there, watching him go.

* * *

**Chapter 2: Reunion in Twilight Town**

A month has passed since the comrades that had saved the worlds from Organization XIII's tyranny. Now, things have settled down, and people are able to live their happy lives. In Twilight Town, things were just as peaceful. Sure, there were a few Heartless and Nobodies around, but the numbers were so little, that it didn't mean much. Not only was this home to many of the residents in the past, but some of the SAO players who were killed during those two years. They were revived once again thanks to Sora, Kirito, Asuna and their friends' efforts.

One of these players, Diabel, was waiting outside the train station, waiting for the arrival of a certain trio. He was given the message from Hayner, Pence and Olette, whom he befriended here, to wait for the trio to arrive. Diabel's blue hair was tied back in a ponytail. He was wearing a brown shirt with a Struggle Bat picture on it, a blue jacket, blue jeans, and black shoes. He carried his short sword around his waist as for self-protection.

He was checking his watch when he started to hear a few voices from within the train station. "Hurry up, Donald!" cried Sora's voice. "Wait for me!" Donald squawked. "Gawrsh, this sure is exciting!" chuckled Goofy. The doors to the train station flung open, and out came Sora, tumbling head-first down the stairs and falling to the ground below, with Goofy falling on top of him. Donald stopped himself at the top of the stairs just in time. "Sora, watch where you're going!" Donald taunted.

Sora grimaced as he shrugged Goofy off of him and got to his feet again. He looked around and saw Diabel standing there, amused at the scene before him. "You sure haven't changed." he stated to Sora. "Hey, Diabel. Long time, no see!" Sora greeted him, "How's it going?" "Pretty good, actually." Diabel replied, "I'm starting to settle down in the new life I have here. Though Seifer and his friends keep asking me to join their disciplinary squad. I keep refusing, but he just can't take a hint. " Sora smiled as Goofy got to his feet again and Donald rejoined the group. "So are they here yet?" Sora asked. "Not yet, but Hayner did tell me that his group's at the mansion. They're probably there by now." "Great!" cheered Sora, turning to his two buddies, "Let's go, you guys! We gotta greet them before they get here!" Sora ran on ahead, with Donald and Goofy in tow. Diabel watched them run off down the street. "Those guys don't know how to rest, do they?" he asked himself.

Sora, Donald and Goofy ran through the streets of Twilight Town, rushing towards the mansion while still looking around at the scenery. Sora spent his month getting use to the islands again with his friends Riku and Kairi. He received a letter from King Mickey a little while back containing a deep message and also an invitation to a celebration at Disney Castle, along with Riku and Kairi. Sora was happy to oblige, and when Donald and Goofy picked up the crew in the Gummi ship, Mickey told him over the monitor that he also invited the others to the celebration. By the others, he meant Kirito, Asuna, Yui, Leafa and Recon. It felt like ages since he last saw them, so he was glad to hear they agreed to come over.

Sora rushed his way over to the courtyard of the mansion, where he saw Hayner at the gates. "Hi'ya, Sora." Hayner greeted him as the trio came in close. "Hey, Hayner." Sora replied, "So are they…" "No, they haven't arrived yet." Hayner responded before Sora could finish his question, "Pence said it would take a little while, but they will come." "Aw, man!" Sora moaned, slumping a bit. "Hey, don't worry about it." Hayner assured him, "In fact, why don't we spend this time with a little practice battle together." Hayner whipped out two Struggle bats, and tossed one over to Sora. Sora took it in both hands and Hayner pointed his at Sora. "Let me see if you've gotten soft this past month." he sassed at Sora. Sora was confused at first, then he smirked and got into battle position, his bat at the ready. "I guess I could go for a few rounds with you while we wait." Sora agreed.

The two sides looked at one another for a second, then both of them charged at one another. Sora and Hayner both clashed with one another, but Sora's well obtained skills in combat from the past proved to be too much for Hayner. It only took a minute before Hayner was on his back, his bat rolling away from him. Sora paused for a second, then relaxed and stood up. "Had enough?" Sora asked him. Hayner groaned as he sat up. "Man, I just can't seem to beat you at all." Hayner sighed, then he started to chuckle a bit, "I guess it makes sense that you guys were strong enough to take on those Organization XIII guys without too much trouble." Sora reached down and helped Hayner get to his feet again. "I will get stronger than you someday." Hayner told Sora, "Then, we can have a real fight." "Okay, as long as we don't go too far." Sora replied. The two boys, along with Donald and Goofy all chuckled at this statement.

"Hey, guys!" cried a girl's voice. Everyone turned to see Olette standing at the doorway at the mansion, waving to them. "Hurry up! Pence is starting to bring them over!" she called out to them. Sora, Donald and Goofy all looked to one another, excited. "Let's go!" cheered Sora, and the boys all charged past Olette and into the mansion. They remembered their way through the place, and went down to where the computer room was at, with Hayner and Olette bringing up the rear.

Sora barged into the place, startling Pence and the first two people to arrive; Leafa and Recon. "Sora!" Leafa gasped, "Jeez, you sure make an entrance!" "Hey there, Sora!" greeted Recon, happy to see them again. "Leafa! Recon!" Sora addressed happily, "Boy, am I glad to see you guys!" He, Donald and Goofy all shook hands with the two, glad to be with one another once again. Sora looked around the room. "Where's Kirito, Asuna and Yui?" Sora asked Leafa. "They're not here yet." Leafa answered, "They're still getting prepared to come on over. You will be surprised by them." "What d'ya mean?" Goofy asked her. "You'll soon find out." Leafa answered with a smirk, turning to the machine that contained the digital portal.

There was a pause, then Pence, who was at the computer, proclaimed, "Okay, I got their coordinates. I'm sending here right now!" He pressed a few keys, and the machine started to light up a bit. The data portal grew brighter, then out of it came three figure, or rather two human figures and one pixie. It was none other than Kirito, Asuna and Yui themselves.

Sora was both excited and surprised. While Yui looked the same, Kirito and Asuna had changed a bit. They were still in their same garments they had in this dimension, but their faces had changed. Asuna's hair and eyes were no longer hazel, but now sky blue color, yet her hair stuck the same style. Kirito's eyes were a bit brighter, and his smooth hair became somewhat messier (due to the fact that his hair was spiky before, then he tried smoothing it down to normal at Yui's request), though his hair and eye color stuck the same. Both of them had human ears.

The trio instantly looked around and saw Sora, Donald and Goofy. "Hey there, Sora. It's been a while." Kirito greeted him. "Hi, Sora!" said Asuna happily, raising a hand to wave at him. "Sora!" cried Yui, diving at Sora's face and impacting him so hard that it caused Sora to spin around and fall onto his butt. Kirito and Asuna walked over as Sora attempted to take Yui off of his face so he could breath a bit. "Yui, I can't breath!" Sora's muffled voice cried out. Yui backed off from him and settled into his open hands. "Sorry." Yui apologized, "I didn't mean to cause you discomfort." "It's ok." Sora sighed, smiling at her, "I'm just so glad to see you, too." Yui smiled eagerly.

Just then, two outstretched arms appeared in front of Sora. He looked up to see both Kirito and Asuna with their hand reached out to him. "Looks like you haven't changed a bit." Kirito stated. Sora smirked as Yui flew off of his hand. He reached out and grabbed both hands with each of his, hoisting himself up. "I could say the same for you." Sora replied, "Though you guys do look a bit different. "We decided on changing avatars for this moment." Asuna stated as Yui settled on Sora's shoulder, "So now we are using our ALO avatars like Leafa and Recon." "So we switched our garments over to our ALO avatar, and came along here." Kirito ended, relinquishing her grip. Donald and Goofy rushed up to greet the trio. Asuna bent down to hug Donald while Kirito and Goofy shook hands.

"Glad to see you guys came back." Pence greeted them. Kirito and Asuna looked and noticed Hayner, Pence and Olette in the room. "Oh, it's you guys." Kirito stated. "What? No hello?" Hayner asked in a sarcastic tone, "You sure have a fine way of greeting people." "Sorry." Kirito apologized, "It is nice to see you again." "Likewise." Hayner responded, and the two walked up to each other and shook hands. The crowd had their meet and greet as they started to walk up the stairs to the exterior of the mansion.

"How are things back in your dimension?" Sora asked them. "Kind of the same." Asuna replied, "Except for the fact that we could summon our Keyblades from outside the game. That was surprising." "We begun practicing on our fighting skills." Kirito explained, looking at his hands, "But now that we're back in this dimension again, I can feel all of my old powers returning to me. The magic, skills, everything. It's all coming back to me. I guess it must be because of these clothes. Either that or its' this dimension." Kirito looked to Asuna. "Do you have the same feeling as well?" Asuna nodded. "Everything's coming back to me again." she answered.

They continued on their path outside the mansion and into town, laughing talking about all that they have been through and what they believed they were getting at the celebration. Kirito felt a lot more comfortable talking around Sora, kind of like Asuna or Leafa. It was probably because Sora's demeanor made him more open to people, free of worry. Asuna wasn't so focused on her own pride when she was around either Sora or Kirito, and she could almost see Kirito's character within Sora. She could really act her normal self around him. As for Yui, who was always eager to talk to Sora, she felt like Sora was more of a family member to her than anything else. So while they were walking, Yui stated that Sora could be like her uncle, startling Sora and making the others laugh at his expression.

Sora in return felt a strong connection with the others as well. It's strange, but whenever he spoke to Kirito and Asuna, it almost felt like he was talking to Riku and Kairi. Even stranger was the fact that another part of him, one he had forgotten for quite some time, told him that he was talking to the two like someone else. A couple of people he should know, from way back in his childhood. And that he himself was somebody who knew them, who called them his closest friends.

"Sora?!" Asuna called out, stopping Sora before he rammed into a light post. Sora realized he was daydreaming, and shook his head. "Sorry. Kinda spaced out there." Sora apologized, turning to the team walking with him. "Sora, you space out just as badly as Kirito." Asuna sighed. Kirito rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. They had just reached the sandlot of Twilight Town. "C'mon!" Donald told the crew, walking ahead of the team. "We gotta get movin' if we're able to get to the party." Goofy reminded them. "You're right about that." Leafa replied, walking forward.

Just then, more than half a dozen Shadow Heartless appeared around Donald and Leafa, surprising them. "Heartless?!" Kirito gasped, seeing them. "There aren't as many as there were before, but they are still around." Sora explained, whipping his 'Kingdom Key' Keyblade out. Goofy pulled out his shield in response. In the circle of Heartless, Donald pulled out his wand, readying his magic. "I've been waiting a long time for this…" Leafa stated, 'unsheathing' her Sylphwing Keyblade and holding it in front of her. Kirito and Asuna also produced their Keyblades, Elucidator and Lambent Light, out of a glittering of lights, and got into battle position. With everyone set, they charged ahead.

The battle was short. It was barely a warm-up for the team. The Heartless weren't as strong, and there were only about ten of them. Their combined efforts knocked them all out in about twenty seconds. Once the battle was over, the seven combatants got together again. "Just like old times, huh?" Leafa asked the team. "Nah, the old times were a lot harder." Kirito pointed out. "Yeah, but they were fun, right?" Sora asked while taking his leaning back position. "They sure were." Asuna agreed.

"I wish I was more useful to you guys." Yui sighed, sitting on Kirito's shoulder, "I can only spout out info on the opponents, and that's it. I can't even go into my human form without the summon charm, and mama and papa don't have that anymore." "Nor do we have any of our extra Keyblade keychains." Asuna added. "Same here." Sora followed, raising his Keyblade, "This one's the only one I have. But let's not get down on this. C'mon, we gotta a party to get to!" They continued onward, leaving Hayner, Pence and Olette behind, who decided now was a good time to get to some homework. They said their goodbyes and parted ways.

Sora led the others to the train station, where Diabel was still at. Noticing more familiar faces, he waved at them. "Hey Kirito, Asuna. I see you finally made it." he greeted them. "Hey, Diabel." Kirito responded, walking up to him and shaking hands, "I see you're getting use to a normal life." "As normal as it could get." Diabel corrected him in a joking manner. "You seeing us off?" Asuna asked him. "Yeah." he answered, "Just wanted a chance to say hi before you guys went. I wish I could come, but I have this place to protect, along with all of the residents. Can't do anything for myself here, right?" Kirito couldn't help but be interested in this change of attitude. Back in SAO, Diabel was also a Beta Tester like him, and was the guy who waited for everyone else to take down the first floor boss before attempting to take the final strike bonus for himself. Unfortunately, his selfishness resulted in his death.

"Welp, I better call the Gummi ship." Goofy decided. "Allow me." Yui intruded, "It's been a while since I did that." She concentrated as everyone gathered around her. Diabel waved them off as they gathered. Once they were together, a beam of light shot upon them from above and they were teleported away, going to the Gummi ship. Meanwhile, the masked boy was sitting on top of the clock tower, watching them leave.

* * *

**Chapter 3: The Celebration Struggle**

The team came out of teleportation, arriving inside the Gummi ship. It was just as Kirito and the others remembered. "Welcome back, you guys!" cried a couple of squeaky voices. On the monitor was none other than the chipmunk engineers, Chip and Dale. "Hey, you two!" Yui greeted them, flying up to the monitor, "It's been a while, hasn't it?" "Is the party ready to go?" Donald asked them. "You betcha!" Chip answered. "The nuts and food are ready to go!" Dale followed. "And everyone's waiting for your arrival." Chip added. "So hurry up and get over here!" Dale ended. "You got it." Kirito responded, taking a seat along with everyone else. "Let's go to the party!" Goofy cheered. "Yui, set coordinates for Disney Castle." Sora declared. "Setting coordinates." Yui answered, typing away at the computer, then with one final push of a button, the Gummi ship was on the move.

It took some time to get there, and the team talked to one another while they waited. Kirito and Asuna found out that not only was King Mickey, Queen Minnie and Daisy waiting for them, but also Kairi, Riku, and even Akihiko Kayaba. Kirito hadn't seen him in a while, so he was interested to see how much he had changed. Goofy did recall that from what the King said, Kayaba's attitude was a lot like Ansem the Wise, though a lot younger and a bit more distant. Ansem, who was the man responsible for sending Kirito, Asuna and the others here the first time around, had not been seen since the incident. Kayaba's research told the King that Ansem might not be dead. However, due to the facts that he didn't know the research the heart, Kayaba was uncertain about any other results that might replace that assumption. For once, Kayaba was stumped.

After an hour of flying, the Gummi ship found itself flying towards Disney Castle, home to Donald, Goofy and King Mickey. They flew their way into the interior of the world, making their way to the docking bay of the castle. Finally settling down, the team hopped out of the ship. The interior was like before; gears, pipes and white-gloved hands all around the room. The stone stairs before them led to the garden of the castle.

"Last time we were here, we ended up dealing with a bunch of Heartless and going back in time." Asuna recalled, looking at Sora and Kirito. "Eh?! You went back in time?" Leafa asked in a shocked manner. "Yeah, and the world had no such thing as natural laws." Kirito added, thinking back to Timeless River, "Not to mention our bodies changed quite a bit there. More retro-like and stuff." He tried recalling some of the moments there, but he made a mental block from that place because of all of the illogical things that happened, and it hurt his head just thinking about it.

They proceeded up the stairs out of the hanger, meeting up with Chip and Dale along the way. This was Leafa and Recon's first time meeting them face to face, so they were surprised to see their actual size. They were even more surprised when they arrived outside to see the castle garden and the castle itself. "You'd think after spending time in ALO and other places in this dimension, you'd be use to places like this." Kirito said amusingly. "So where's the party suppose to be?" Sora asked, looking around. "In the throne room." Donald replied. "C'mon. We'll show ya!" Goofy declared, and he and Donald led the team to the throne room. They walked through the halls until they arrived at the humongous double doors. "So…how do we open it?" Recon asked, looking up to the top of the door. "Through here." Kirito responded, remembering how to get in. He pushed on one part of the left door, and a smaller door opened before them, and they went through.

When they entered in, they were immediately greeted by the barking of Pluto, who bounded forward and pushed Kirito to the ground, licking his face. Asuna, Sora and Leafa couldn't help but laughing at Kirito, who sputtered as Pluto kept licking him. "Okay, okay! It's great to see you too!" Kirito gasped, shoving Pluto off of him. Pluto backed off and sat, giving Leafa a chance to itch his ears in greeting. "Looks like you guys made it here all right." said Riku's voice. Everyone looked ahead of them to see King Mickey, Queen Minnie, Daisy, Jiminy Cricket, Kairi and Riku.

"Everyone!" Asuna waved at them. Kirito stood back up with help from Sora and looked at the crowd waiting for them. They all looked just as Kirito remembered. Mickey was in his red and black jacket and pants, along with his yellow shoes. Right next to him was Queen Minnie in her red and pink gown. Daisy was in her own violet ball gown. Jiminy was standing beneath them, in his usual attire. As for Riku and Kairi, they were still in the same garments as before. Behind them was a long table filled with food and party supplies.

Sora led the gang into joining with the others again. Kirito went to greet King Mickey and bow to him. Asuna went to talking to Queen Minnie and Daisy. Yui flew down to greet Jiminy again. Leafa and Kairi hugged one another, grateful to see each other again. Recon went up and shook with Riku, who considered him a close friend. "Gosh, it's great to see all of you again." Mickey stated, looking at the SAO/ALO crew. "I'm just glad we get to see each other like this. You know, without a Heartless or Nobody to impede in our path." Kirito said to everyone, looking around, "But where's Kayaba?" "He said he will be joining us eventually." Riku answered, walking over to him, "He's not really the kind of guy who enjoys these kind of celebrations. But he is interested in seeing you again, Kirito." "I bet he is." Kirito sighed, not sure if it was for a pleasure meaning or business meaning. Asuna with Yui walked over to him and patted his shoulder.

"Hey, check it out!" Sora called out to Kirito, Asuna, Riku and Yui. They turned to see Sora looking at them, only now wearing red glasses with attached oversize nose and mustache, complete with a party hat. Donald and Goofy all laughed at the obnoxious look Sora now had. "Really, Sora?" Kirito said in a bemused tone, giving the same 'I can't believe it' look as Riku. Asuna and Yui were giggling. Hearing those two laugh made Kirito smirk a bit. He even huffed a chuckle at Sora's look. Sora eagerly smiled and laughed, joined in by everyone else who weren't laughing before.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Recon asked, "C'mon, let's get this party started." Everyone gather around the table and sat down in their individual seats. King Mickey sat at one end of the table with Minnie, Daisy, Chip, Dale, Donald and Goofy. Leafa, Asuna, Kairi and Yui sat on the other end of the table, leaving Sora, Riku, Kirito, Recon and Jiminy gathered up in the middle. An extra seat was placed at the other end of the table, which was to be Kayaba's seat. Mickey raised his glass. "This celebration is dedicated to all of my friends that helped stop the darkness not once, but twice." Mickey proclaimed, "I thank you all for what you've done, and hope that we can do it again if the darkness should rise up once more in the future. Here's to all of us." "Cheers!" everyone shouted, raising their glasses.

The party was underway, and everyone was having a great time. Daisy was feeding Donald food. Mickey and Minnie were having a pleasurable chat. Chip and Dale were fighting over the nuts. Goofy, Sora and Jiminy were telling more stories to Kirito about the ordeals they and Donald had been through before they met him and Asuna. Riku was doing his best ignoring the story, since it brought about a lot of bad memories, and tried talking to Recon. The girls were laughing about their boyfriends, telling stories about what foolish things they've done.

"…And after that, Kirito tried biting my fingers as a joke." Leafa was finishing a story, "Naturally, I left a nice handprint on his face afterwards." "That's just like Kirito." Asuna sighed as Kairi laughed, "I am so sorry for all of the trouble he caused." "Hey, it's ok." Leafa replied, "After all, that journey was all to save you, Asuna. Even if he had his idiotic moments, I was glad to go along with him." "He's so like Sora." Kairi compared, "Even when he was trying to save me, he had his goofy moments that were just plain silly." "Those two are more alike than they realize." They looked to Kirito and Sora, who were scarfing down food rapidly, looking up to see the girls staring at them.

Just then, the doors opened, and everyone turned to see none other than Akihiko Kayaba himself entering into the room. Kirito quickly swallowed his food at the sight of him. Kayaba was in his usual attire; a white lab coat, white shirt, black tie and pants. The only difference in his look was the pin on the side of his coat, which had Mickey's emblem and a picture of a bubbling vial in it. This was the symbol of the head of the science department in Disney Castle. "Kayaba!" he said in a calm, "It's been a while." "It's good to see you again, Kirito." Kayaba responded, walking towards the group, then shifting his gaze to Mickey, "My apologies for being so late, Your Majesty. I had just finished examining that journal for you." He held out a small journal, which belonged to Jiminy.

He walked over to Jiminy as Kirito stood up. "Did you find anything about the Datascape inside the journal?" Mickey asked Kayaba. "A lot, actually." he responded, giving the journal to Jiminy, "The Datascape is quite a fascinating place. Filled with an abundance of worlds within these pages. It should prove to be very useful to my research." "What are you researching?" Kirito asked him. "A new world, or rather a set of new worlds." Kayaba explained, "I plan on creating a new game for this dimension and all of its' inhabitants. And I plan on making it so that even your dimension can log into it as well."

"Wait, so you're saying you are gonna create the NerveGear for here, too?" Kirito asked, surprised. "That is what I am planning." Kayaba answered, looking to everyone, "After spending time in this castle and this dimension, I decided on creating something new. A world filled with the excitement and pleasure I had almost forgotten about. When creating 'Sword Art Online', my only reason for creating that world was to see my dreams made into reality and to shove away the laws of the outside world. However, I had caused so much pain in my own selfish act, causing separation among many people. My obsession for my dreams became a nightmare to everyone else. No matter how much happiness I had given to those within the game, and even if the players were revived once again in this dimension, it cannot erase the crimes I had committed."

Everyone watched with intention as Kayaba continued, "That is why I am creating this new game. It is something I hope will atone for my mistakes. It is what a game should be; a place where people could join together, enjoy the fantasy of it all. To step away from reality in only temporary, but the moments you are in virtual reality, where anything could be created, is enticing." Kayaba smiled a bit as he stared at Kirito, Sora and Asuna. "You three have taught me that better than anyone. That is why this game will become my greatest creation, and that it will bring happiness to everyone, as it should." "That sounds like a lot of fun!" Sora said excitedly, "I hope to be the first to get whatever game you're making!" "Just be sure to add the logout button next time." Kirito sassed at Kayaba, but he smiled afterwards. For the first time in Kirito's and Asuna's life, they actually heard Kayaba chuckle in response. _This dimension does change people._ Asuna wondered, seeing the smile on Kayaba's face.

"So I'm guessing you might need our help." Kirito assumed. "Indeed." Kayaba answered, "I was hoping to see if maybe there was a way to demonstrate your skills in combat here in order to add to my research." "You mean, like we fight against each other?" Kirito asked, "As in some tournament?" Kayaba nodded. "Couldn't you just use the same data as used in Sword Art Online?" Asuna asked, "All the Sword Skills work well." "That's true, and I could replicate the work. But I want to add something else to the game." Kayaba replied, "The powers of the Keyblade, and all the styles of combat in this dimension. Feel free to use any method of combat you want." Sora and Kirito looked to each other, wondering how should they do this.

"Hey, I know!" Leafa raised her hand, "How about a Struggle match?" "Struggle?" Kirito asked, turning to her. "Yeah, that could work!" Recon responded. During the first time in this dimension, Leafa and Recon were introduced to Struggle thanks to Hayner, Pence and Olette. It was a match with Struggle bats, and it involved knocking all of the balls attached to someone and gathering them up within the time limit. The one who has the most balls wins. "That sounds like a great idea!" Mickey replied, "I'm sure we have the equipment in the castle to start one. We can all join in!" "Great!" cheered Leafa, "Can we set up an arena somewhere?" "I will order the brooms to make a stage here." Minnie answered, "It will take a bit of time, so please be patient."

While the stage was being set up, the rest of the crew were introduced, or re-introduced, to the rules of Struggle. Sora, Kirito, Asuna, Riku, Kairi, Leafa, Recon, and Mickey all decided to take part in the game. Kayaba had brought along a portable computer to watch the match and analyze their combat. They drew straws to see who would be fighting against who. The results were this: Sora vs. Recon, Riku vs. Kirito, Asuna vs. Mickey, and Leafa vs. Kairi. Each of them eyed there opponents eagerly, except for Kirito and Riku. They both posed serious expressions, knowing the strength of each of them.

The stage was finished surprisingly fast. It was the same size and shape as the platform at Twilight Town. The team gathered around the stage, ready to go. Each of them had a hundred balls absorbed into their body. Sora and Recon were up first, and Minnie was the judge for the battle. "Make it a clean match, and may the best one win." She said, handing each of them their Struggle bats. Sora and Recon readied themselves on either side of the platform, in ready position. "Ready, everyone?" Minnie asked, "Then let's…" "STRUGGLE!" shouted the crowd, and the bell started the battle.

The first match was pretty straight forward. Recon was no match for Sora's fighting skills. He was easily taken down by him, giving Sora the victory to move on.

Leafa and Kairi were next, and Leafa went easy one Kairi at the start, but eventually overwhelmed her with her kendo skills and claimed the win.

Mickey and Asuna were the next to go up. The crowd was split up at who to cheer for, the people Disney Castle and Riku rooted for Mickey while everyone in SAO rooted for Asuna. Sora, Donald and Goofy were the only ones confused on who to root for. The battle between them was fierce, since both of them were light on their feet. In the end, Asuna won, but by a close margin.

Finally, everyone was waiting for Kirito and Riku's battle, and so were the boys themselves. Their fight was intense, the balls dropping from their bodies and being absorbed into them with every attack they delivered. Riku was having the upper hand at first, but Kirito's quick thinking and reaction skills turned the battle around, giving him the win.

The first round was over, and the semi-finals were up. After a random shuffle, Sora was pitted against Leafa while Asuna and Kirito were about to duke it out. Everyone was interested in those two matches. Kirito and Asuna were usually the ones that fought against each other in the finals of tournaments back in SAO, and they would find themselves at even level of skills. This battle was gonna test them as well.

The first ones up, however, were Sora and Leafa. Once given their bats, Leafa led Sora into bowing to one another, like a kendo match, before beginning the match. Leafa had technique and skill, and Sora had unpredictability. Leafa knew about Struggle battles, and she was the champion back in Twilight Town. Sora was not trained by others like Leafa was, which made him a more difficult person to read. Leafa and Sora were delivering one attack after another, and Sora was having the advantage from this. Sora kept this advantage all the way to the end, and after a hard fight, he got the victory. Leafa was frustrated, but she was a good sport.

Next came up Kirito and Asuna. The Death Beater vs. Lightning Flash, or in ALO, The Berserk Healer. Kirito kept his new nickname since it suited him better than anything else. The battle between the two was fierce. Each of them knew each other's natural skills. Asuna was swift and accurate, while Kirito had strong attacks and reaction. It was unsure which one was gonna win, and everyone was just amazed at how powerful they were going at each other. When the time was up, the results were 101 to 99, Asuna's favor. Kirito was amazed that she managed to pull it off, but he congratulated her at her victory, and wished both her and Sora the best of luck in the finals.

After a quick break, Sora and Asuna were ready for the finals. "Good luck, you two!" Kirito cheered for them. "You can do it, Sora!" Kairi cheered. "Go for it, Asuna!" shouted Leafa. Everyone was picking sides, though hoping for either one of them to win. Minnie walked forward and handed them each their Struggle Bats. "Do your best, each of you." she told them, before walking off the stage. Sora and Asuna looked at one another. "Guess well see who's better at this." Sora stated. "I hope you're ready for this." Asuna taunted. "Bring it on!" Sora replied, and the two backed away from each other before getting into fighting position. Everyone was cheering as the two looked at each other for a second, then they charged.

At this moment, someone in black gloves snapped his fingers, and the threat came.

* * *

**Chapter 4: Unversed Assault**

As the two combatants came in closer, something appeared from in between their path. They stopped out of surprise to see what stopped them. There were two of them, and they looked almost rabbit like. They were humanoid, dark blue, with lightning bolt-shaped ears and glowing red eyes. Their arms and legs ended in points. They were about the size of Shadow Heartless.

"What the…?!" exclaimed Kirito, seeing the creatures. The two creatures turned to Asuna and Sora each, and darted at them. Each of them blocked them and tossed them to the outskirts of the stage. "What are those things?!" Asuna asked, seeing the creatures get to their feet again. "Are they Heartless?!" Sora questioned, seeing a few more pop up around them. "It can't be!" Minnie exclaimed, "The Cornerstone of Light keeps the Heartless away from the castle!"

More of them started appearing around the crowd, surrounding them. Kirito hoisted himself onto the stage with Yui in tow and got to Sora and Asuna's side, who stood in the middle of the stage. They threw their Struggle bats away and summoned their Keyblades. Donald, Goofy and Mickey were protecting Minnie, Daisy and the chipmunks from more of them. Mickey started at these creatures, his Keyblade at hand, then he gasped, "No… It can't be… Their still alive?!" Kayaba darted himself away from more of the strange creatures. He summoned out a longsword that was granted to him thanks to Mickey and Minnie's magic. Kairi, Riku and Leafa all pulled out their Keyblades while Recon pulled out his dagger. Kairi looked at the creatures with uncertainty. "I've seen these things before." she muttered, getting the other three's attention, "That was when…" She stopped her sentence, thinking about back when she was a little girl in Radiant Garden.

The strange creatures started to attack the group. Everyone went to work, knocking them back and taking them down, one after another. For some strange reason, a lot of them seemed to target Asuna for some strange reason. "Why are they attacking mostly me?" Asuna asked, seeing two of them come at her. "Dunno!" Kirito replied, slashing them away, "Maybe they don't like you for a reason?" Sora was just as confused. Why were they attacking Asuna mainly?

After a few minutes, the place was cleared of the strange creatures. "What was that all about?" Donald asked. "Gawrsh, ya think they were Heartless or Nobodies?" Goofy asked. "Neither I'm afraid." Mickey replied as everyone gathered around him, "Those things… those kind of creatures are a lot like the Heartless, created by the negative emotions of one person's heart. One I hoped disappeared a long time ago." "Who was it, and what are these creatures called?" Asuna asked. Mickey looked down a bit, looking worried and frustrated. "The name of the creatures are called the Unversed." he answered, "And the man's name…"

Suddenly, more of the Unversed produced itself in front of the door to the throne room, getting the attention of the team. "There's more?" Sora asked, seeing them. They started darting their way towards the team, but Riku came at them, and unleashed a barrage of dark orbs down upon them. The attack caused a great explosion, making them all disappear. "We don't have time talking right now!" Riku warned them, "We need to make sure the rest of the castle is safe!" "He's right!" Mickey answered, stepping out in front and turning to the crowd, "We need to split up and secure the castle. Donald, Goofy, lead Sora, Kirito and Asuna to the courtyard and deal with any that are there." "Yes, Your Majesty!" Donald and Goofy replied. "The rest of us should go around the castle, taking care of any Unversed." Mickey continued, "That way, we'll know the area is safe. Let's go!"

The team dashed to the door and barged right through it. Jiminy and Yui joined Sora and Kirito's group as they split up. Donald and Goofy led the team down the stairs into the courtyard, where they found a bunch of the same Unversed creatures as before, though a new kind of creature was added to the mix; ones with silver claws, feet instead of points on their legs, and shorter ears. Kirito assumed they must be like the Soldier Heartless. "Let's clear the area!" Sora told the crowd. "Right!" everyone answered, and they dispersed.

They begun going all around the courtyard, clearing the area of all the Unversed in their path. They came at all angles, but they weren't phased by their attack. Yui dove out of Kirito's pocket and shot herself at one of the Unversed. "Yui!" Kirito shouted as she came at it. Yui started spinning around the Unversed creature, causing it to get dizzy, then she darted into the air and rammed headlong into the gut of the creature, causing it to be knocked back and disappear. Yui looked proud of herself for a second, then three more came at her, and she looked frightened. Luckily, Kirito came in just in time to knock back the three and make them disappear. "You shouldn't be so reckless." Kirito warned her. "But I wanted to fight with you!" Yui replied longingly. Kirito picked her up by the scruff of her collar and put her in his pocket. "You can help by staying in there and keeping safe." Kirito told her, "It's too dangerous in your state." Yui crossed her arms, looking frustrated.

Once they cleared the courtyard, the team gathered together again. "You okay?" Sora asked the others. They nodded in response. "I wonder where these things are coming from?" Kirito thought out loud. "Mickey said someone was controlling them." Asuna recalled, "We need to find whoever is controlling them, and stop them." The others nodded in response.

Suddenly, the three Keyblade wielders noticed the air around them start to grow warm. They were surprised, then they concentrated, looking around. Kirito saw a slight flame appear, and he realized something. "Guys, we gotta move away from here!" he exclaimed, and everyone dispersed just in time. A second later, a swirl of flames appeared, making everyone fly away from the spot. The flames disappeared to reveal a new figure. It was large, armored, and locked up. Its' arms were crossed, and red chains surrounded his body. His waist down was nothing than a black armored gibbet, with black diamond-shaped gems and silver highlights. Its' body was mainly black, with blue gauntlets, a helmet that was light grey on one half, and grey on the other half, and black, jagged horns. It had the same menacing red eyes as the rest of the Unversed.

"What the hell is this thing?!" Kirito asked as he and Asuna got to their feet. "Must be another Unversed." Sora answered as he, Donald and Goofy also got to their feet. The Unversed unleashed a ring of flames menacingly at the group surrounding it. "Usually I don't play with fire." Kirito stated amusingly, "But today, I'll make an acception." With this, the team readied their weapons, and charged headlong to the beast.

The Unversed rose into the air and started firing lasers down from the bottom of its' gibbet at them. Everyone did their best to avoid the lasers, but Kirito and Donald both got hit by them, causing each of them to catch fire. The fire died down on them, but it still hurt. Once it stopped firing the lasers, the team came in with series of attacks at the Unversed, striking its' body hard with their attacks. Kirito used Firaga, and the attack stunned the beast, making him realize that fire attacks could affect it in such a way.

It came out of its' stun and started swing its' gibbet at them in a fiery attack. Each of them were at least hit once, since it was able to swing it so rapidly. It then started to spin around in a fiery tornado, moving around the courtyard like a top in an enclosed area. They dodged as much as they could. Asuna put up a Reflega barrier, reflecting the damage back at the Unversed. Once it stopped spinning, it created a fiery circle beneath it, and dove into the ground. The team looked around, wondering where it went. It appeared beneath Sora and Goofy's feet, causing them to fly into the air and crash into the ground.

"This things pretty tough!" Asuna said, seeing it starting to swing at the frantically running Donald. "But fire element attacks seem to stun it." Kirito recalled, "Let's hit it with all the fiery attacks we got." The two darted their way towards the Unversed as Sora and Goofy got to their feet again. They passed Donald and leapt at the large beast. "_Firaga!_" they shouted in unison, and a swirl of flames came from their bodies, hitting the Unversed. The attack caused an explosion, sending the monster hurdling back into the wall. "Woah!" Sora gasped. "Fire attacks work!" Kirito told the others, "Use all the fire attacks you got onto it. "Right!" Sora replied, racing at it.

The Unversed came to its' senses, and saw the incoming team. It let out a fiery aura, and suddenly, Asuna found herself trapped in a cage. "Asuna!" shouted Kirito and Sora. "Keep moving!" she called out to them, "I'll break myself out of this!" They understood, and charged at the large monster. Sora, Kirito and Donald started unleashing a storm of fire magic at the monster. Goofy went to Asuna's aid to help her break free from the cage. After several strikes, the cage broke, and she came out of it. "Thanks, Goofy." she thanked him, causing him to chuckle. The two joined the group as they continued to attack ferociously at the monster. It made another fiery tornado, causing everyone to double back from it.

Sora, Kirito and Asuna looked to one another, and nodded in agreement as to their next move. "_Limit!_" they shouted in unison, and their clothes bursted out. They turned into their Limit Drive Forms, and Asuna and Kirito's hair and faces reverted to their SAO look. Kirito's Oblivion Keyblade appeared in his other hand as his secondary Keyblade. They charged at the Unversed, which stopped spinning, and turned to the team charging at them. Asuna was in the lead, so she came in first with a 'Star Splash' Rapier Skill, unleashing the 8-hit combo attack. Sora came in next with his Sonic Blade, piercing right through it several times before backing off. Finally, Kirito came in close, his two blades at hand, and unleashed his 'Starburst Stream' Sword Skill, striking it sixteen times. They joined together as the Unversed started to shake violently, taking too much damage from their attacks. It created a rupture of flames around it, causing it to be enveloped by flames. The flames died down, and it disappeared. They stopped the mysterious Unversed.

* * *

**Chapter 6: Danger in a Different Dimension**

Sora, Kirito, Asuna, Donald and Goofy all got together, sighing relief from the intense fight. Yui popped out of Kirito's pocket, and settled on his shoulder. "That certainly was something." Kirito stated. "But where did it come from?" Donald asked. Everyone shrugged, not sure. Suddenly, they heard footsteps, and they turned to see Mickey, Riku, Kairi, Leafa and Recon join them. "You okay?" Leafa asked them. "Oh sure. Just another day as a Keyblade wielder." Kirito answered sarcastically.

Suddenly, the group could hear someone clapping his hands slowly. They looked around, wondering where it was coming from. Finally, they turned to see someone on top of the central hedge, where the door to the Gummi hanger was at. He looked about the same height as Sora, with a black and red organic body suit and a sort of biker helmet on him with a black visor. He was standing up, applauding them.

"Very good. You seem to be quite the team." the masked boy told Kirito, Asuna and Sora. "You again!" gasped Mickey, "You're still alive?!" "Ah, we meet again, 'Your Majesty'." the masked boy stated sarcastically, "Tell me, how are things? Have you found any traces of those other three Keyblade wielders? Like maybe my good half? Is he sleeping well?" Mickey glared up at the masked boy in anger. "You…you were responsible for hurting my friends almost twelve years ago. What you and Xehanort did back then…" "Xehanort?" Kirito echoed, "Wait, you mean Ansem's assistant?"

The masked boy started to laugh joyfully, disturbing the group beneath him. "So it seems my former master's soul transfer was a success." he assumed, "Taking that one boy's body as his new vessel. He had succeeded." "What?" Sora asked, looking to the others, who shrugged in response. "I was sent on another mission, you know." the masked boy continued, "I was suppose to find another vessel, one that Xehanort was trying to reclaim." He looked down at the crowd, who wasn't noticing that he was looking mostly as Asuna. "But I was unsuccessful. Though I don't need to look anymore. I serve a new master now." "New master?" Mickey asked. "One that is quite fond of you, Kirito." the masked boy explained, making Kirito concerned that he knew his name, "As well as those from your dimension. I bet he's grateful that you are in this dimension and not in yours right now."

The team looked to one another, confused. "What do you mean?" Kirito demanded, "And how do you know my name?" The masked boy chuckled in amusement. "Man, you really are a ditz." he stated, "You don't even realize what is happening right now in your dimension, do you? Of course you wouldn't, otherwise, you wouldn't be having this little celebration." Kirito, Asuna, Leafa and Recon all looked to one another, realizing what he was saying. Something was happening in their dimension.

"You better stay away from our world." Leafa snarled, "If you did something to it…" "Relax, we haven't attacked it…yet." the masked boy answered, "We're saving the best for last, as they say. We'll send some Heartless and Unversed there first, taking the lives of the people there. Then we'll find your bodies and target them as well. Doesn't that sound thoughtful?" "Bastard!" Kirito shouted, leaping at the man before him. He made his mid-air leap at the masked boy, ready to swing his Keyblades, but he was stopped by his weapon, which happened to be… "A Keyblade?!" Kirito gasped through gritted teeth, locking blades with his opponent's Keyblade, Void Gear. After a struggle, the masked boy shoved Kirito back to the ground, where he landed onto his feet. "I'd love to stay and fight, but I really must get going." the masked boy said, turning around and opening a black portal with a rainbowish sheen to it, only to turn his head back to say, "Hope we see each other really soon." And with that, he entered the portal and disappeared.

Kirito looked down, both frustrated and concern. His Oblivion was put away. "Who was that guy, really?" Sora asked, looking to the crowd, "And how come he had a Keyblade?" "That boy's name is Vanitas." Mickey answered, and everyone turned to him, "He was created from the darkness in one of my friends' heart, and he was also a Keyblade wielder." "You mean like how Roxas was a Keyblade wielder too because he was Sora's Nobody?" Kirito recalled. "It's not exactly the same, but it is similar." Mickey replied.

"Who were these friends of yours?" Riku asked. Mickey turned to Sora, Riku and Kairi. "Their names are Ventus, Terra, and Aqua. They were true friends of mine long time ago." "Aqua?" echoed Asuna, "Wait, you mean you know about her?" Mickey turned to Asuna. "Of course, but how do you know about her?" he asked her. "It was back at the world of Organization XIII." she replied, "She came to me in my heart, and we fought. I won, and I only saw her face for a brief moment. She didn't tell me who she was, but somehow, I knew her name." Asuna looked down, a sad expression forming on her face. "It's strange." she said, thinking about it, "Whenever I hear her name, I can't help but feel something painful in my heart. It's like I had this connection with her, but I forgot all about it." Kirito looked to her sympathetically. She had been talking about it once in a while back home.

"Hmm…" said Mickey, rubbing his chin, "I'm not sure what your connection is to Aqua, but I'm sure you'll figure it out eventually. Right now, our main concern is with what Vanitas said." "From what he was saying, it seems like our dimension is in danger." Kirito assumed, "We need to head back there right now. Lets go back to Twilight Town and get to our real bodies."

"That's not a good idea." came Kayaba's voice, and everyone turned to see him walk towards the group, "Your real bodies don't have the strength nor abilities as the bodies you have right now. Even if you go back, you won't be able to do much of anything." "And from what Vanitas said, it also sounds like more worlds in our dimension are in danger. But we have no idea how to get to those worlds." "Then what do you think we should do?" Kirito asked scornfully, "Stay here and twiddle our thumbs, waiting for our dimension to end?" Everyone was pondering on what they should do about the situation.

Suddenly, Kirito's Elucidator started to glow on him, followed by Asuna and Sora's Keyblades. Leafa, Mickey and Riku's Keyblades also followed them by glowing as well. The six of them were startled by the sudden glow of their Keyblades. "What's going on?" Leafa asked, raising her Sylphwing. "It seems like our Keyblades are speaking to us." Mickey answered, "They want to help us out."

Kirito lifted his Elucidator to eye level, looking at it for a second. Sora mirrored his movements, looking at his Kingdom Key. They looked to one another, and nodded simultaneously, understanding what the Keyblade was trying to say. They pointed their Keyblades upwards, thrusting them into the air. Asuna saw them, and followed their movements. Leafa, Mickey and Riku all saw what they were doing, and decided to mimic their movements.

The tips of the six Keyblades started to create a ring of light, connecting all of them. The light started to grow brightly within the ring of Keyblades, and without warning, a massive beam of light shot upwards into the sky. The amount of power from the Keyblade caused the six Keyblade wielders to be pressured as they held their Keyblades upwards. "What the hell is this?!" Riku demanded. "I don't know!" Leafa answered, "Your Majesty, do you know?" "No! This sort of power is new to even me!" Mickey answered. Kairi, Kayaba, Recon, Yui, Donald and Goofy were all watching with amazement as they saw the six of them holding their Keyblades aloft, the massive burst of energy surging upwards.

Finally, the burst of energy died down, but not before they all heard something. It was a deep booming sound of a keyhole being unlocked. There was a moments pause as everyone looked to the sky. Suddenly, the sky went dark, then came a shining light that started to grow brighter and brighter, until it was blinding. Everyone shielded their eyes, experiencing more pressure from the light that was swallowing them and the castle. Everyone was grunting and struggling as they were consumed by the light, unable to see what was going to happen to them.

From the spacial view, the world of Disney Castle was suddenly being swallowed up by a white vortex of light. The world rose up into it, and went right through the vortex, being consumed by it until finally, it disappeared. The Disney Castle, town, the world itself, had vanished from Sora's dimension.

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**Chapter 6: A New Adventure Awaits**

Everyone was unconscious on the ground in the courtyard. The first sign of movement came when Sora and Kirito's hands twitched. Sora was the first to open his eyes, followed by Kirito. They were lying on their backs, so while Kirito sat up, Sora rolled over and got to his hands and feet. "What happened?" moaned Kirito, placing a hand to his head and rubbing it. "Don't know." Sora replied, shacking his head to get focus.

Asuna's moans drew their attention, and they saw her, who was face-down on the ground, get to her knees. Kirito noticed that her clothes were back to their normal form, no longer Limit form, but he also noticed her hair was no longer light blue, but her orange color. The same went with her eyes as she started at them. Kirito looked down at his clothes. They were back to his normal look. He touched his hair, noticing that it was still the same messy style as it was before. Sora's clothing was also back to normal.

The rest of the crew was also stirring as they started to get to their feet again. "What was that light?" Kairi asked, looking around. "I'm not to sure." Leafa answered, "But whatever just happened to us was something big. Although…" she looked around, "I really don't see anything different about the place." Kirito and Asuna looked to each other for a second, then Donald and Goofy's cries of amazement drew their attention, along with everyone else. The two were staring at Yui, who was getting to her feet again. However, she was no longer a fairy, but human size again. Though her clothing had changed quite incredibly from her usual white dress.

Yui's attire was composed of a light blue sleeveless shirt with a golden highlight, a white cloth sash that crossed her chest, and a long pink dress that reached beneath her knees, with pictures of her tear form patterned upon it. She still wore detached sleeves like her fairy form on her arms, but now had cloth that draped from each of her sleeves that went from white to pink as it went down, giving a kimono-like look. She still wore a pink collar and blue flower, and she was still bare-footed, though her legs had new hot pink rings around them.

"Yui!" gasped Kirito and Asuna as Yui got to her feet and looked down herself. "Wha…what happened to me?" Yui asked, looking at her new look, and seeing her human size, "What's with these clothes?" Everyone else were showing signs of amazement at her new attire. Kayaba was the first to come to her with his handheld computer at hand. "Let me see…" Kayaba muttered as he scanned Yui's body with the computer, then typed randomly at it.

"Well?" Kirito asked after a while. "Hmm, this is interesting." Kayaba stated, looking at his computer, "I have kept all the information from Ansem's research on the heart, so with that, I believe I could come up with some kind of conclusion. To be precise, Yui, you were the one who brought forth this form." "I did?" Yui asked, looking down herself, "But I don't understand how?" "Maybe it had to do with something with that surge of energy that came from that bright light." Kayaba assumed, "From what I could tell, that light connected with your heart, transforming your body and clothing into what it is now. It has also changed how you are able to fight as well, not of data, but of the same way as the others." "You mean I'm able to fight like them too?" Yui asked frantically. "That's what I believe." Kayaba answered, looking up from his computer, "Try summoning a weapon to your hand." Yui looked at her hands nervously, then looked to everyone. "Go ahead. Try it." Sora told her. Yui nodded, closed her eyes, then held her hand aloft.

She concentrated, and something appeared in a sparkling of lights. It looked like a short black metal stick at first, but Yui flipped it, unveiling it to be a fan with a white, sturdy material with sharp daggers on one side of it pointing outward, and a picture of Yui's Tear on it. Yui looked at her new weapon at hand. "Is that a fan?" Recon asked in a disbelief tone. "It's a tessen." Kirito answered, "It's a kind of war fan that is used for combat."

Yui folded up the tessen, which was known as the 'Tear Fan', and held it firm. She then swished it around, unveiling it and slicing the air with the fan. She handled it pretty well, despite it being her first time with it. "It seems your body is adapted to the style of combat with your fan." Kayaba realized. "Then this means that now I can be of even better use than before!" Yui realized, smiling eagerly as she held her fan, then looked to Sora, Kirito and Asuna, "I can fight now! I can fight along side my family without being summoned." "That's terrific, Yui!" Asuna cheered. "Way to go!" Sora complimented. "Just as long as you're careful, I don't mind you helping us out." Kirito told her. "Thank you, everyone!" Yui said joyfully, putting her tessen away and rushing to her mama and papa to give them a hug.

Kairi and Riku both smiled as they watched the moment, then Riku looked up into the sky. "But what was that light all about?" Riku asked, "What did the Keyblades do just now?" "I think maybe the Keyblades answered our call." Mickey answered, "They heard our plea to go to a different dimension, and they answered by combining their energy and unlocking the gate that separates each dimension." Everyone was shocked. "Are you serious?!" Kirito asked, "You mean that we just crossed dimensions without going through the digital wormhole?!" "And we are still in our avatar forms." Asuna stated, looking down at her body.

"You are correct about what just happened, Your Majesty." Kayaba confirmed, looking at his computer, "It seems the Keyblades had opened a gateway back into my old dimension. It brought this entire world with it. And since your bodies were made into reality from Sora's world…" he was addressing Kirito, Asuna, Yui, Leafa and Recon, "…they stayed the same way as they crossed back here." "Wow, wouldn't it be something if we saw our bodies right now?" Asuna stated, looking at Kirito, "It would literally be an 'out of body' experience." Kirito chuckled at this.

"You guys do realize what this means, right?" Sora asked the two slowly. "That we have a chance to stop Vanitas and his new master from whatever scheme they are trying to pick up?" Kirito guessed. Sora looked up to them with his usual toothy grin. "Well that, and that there are a whole new set of worlds out there that we haven't explored yet. Sounds like a new kind of adventure just waiting for us, huh?" Kirito and Asuna looked dumbfounded at Sora, then sighed in disbelief. "Sora, you know there's trouble happening, and yet you still make it out as an exciting adventure, huh?" Asuna said amusingly. "That's just like you." Kirito sighed, smiling as he looked to Sora, "So why am I not denying the excitement in it?" Everyone else chuckled at this statement.

_(Cue Sora's theme song)_

Sora looked to everyone. "So should we get going now?" he asked, "I'm eager to see what's out there!" "You got it!" Donald answered, hopping anxiously. "Ah-yuck! This sure sounds like fun!" Goofy chuckled. Kirito, Asuna and Yui all looked to the trio before them. "I guess there's no stopping you guys." Kirito sighed, "Sure, lets do it together!" "I had a feeling something like this would happen." said Asuna, "Still, I'm not complaining as long as our team is together in this." "I'm definitely ready for this adventure!" Yui proclaimed, "I'll do my best!" "I'll have a fresh new journal for this." Jiminy stated, hopping onto the ground.

"We'll come, too." said Leafa as she, Riku and Recon stepped forward. "No." denied Kirito, "You guys better stay here. The seven of us will go out there first. Plus, we can't have Disney Castle unguarded, and who knows what kind of crazy things might happen." "He's got a point." Mickey agreed, "So lets stay here, and leave it to you guys." Queen Minnie, Daisy, Chip and Dale all joined them at this point. "We wish you the best of luck." Minnie told them. "Come back soon, Donald." Daisy told him. "Don't you worry, Daisy!" Donald assured her, thumping his chest, "We'll be back." "We'll get the Gummi ship up and running for you guys." Chip stated. "We'll get to it right away!" Dale followed, and the two raced off to the hangar.

Sora looked to Riku and Kairi. "Riku, I leave everything to you." Sora told him, "Keep Kairi safe for me, okay?" "You got it." Riku replied, "Just don't do anything reckless out there." "Sora." Kairi said, walking up front. She handed Sora her lucky charm, and the two connected hands. "I'll bring this back to you when we're done." Sora told her. "You'd better." Kairi warned him, but she smiled.

Kirito and Asuna looked to Leafa, Recon and Kayaba. "Leafa, Recon, hold down the fort for us." Kirito told them. "I really wish I could've gone with you." Leafa sighed, "But someone's gotta keep the castle safe, so I guess it might as well be me." "I'll protect both Leafa and the castle with my life!" Recon proclaimed, pulling his dagger out and raising it high. Leafa shook her head in disbelief. "I will monitor you guys while you are out there." Kayaba told them, "I want to know about all the other worlds in this dimension. Plus, it would work greatly towards monitoring your combat skills for the game." "I figured it would benefit you." Kirito replied, "I'm not complaining. I hope to see you soon, Kayaba."

Sora, Kirito, Asuna, Donald, Goofy, Yui and Jiminy all got together. "Ready for this, guys?" Sora asked the team. "Remember who you're talking to." Kirito said smugly. Everyone put their hands in the center of their circle, with Jiminy on top. "Let's save the dimension!" Asuna cheered. "Yeah!" the team cheered, lifting their hands into the air as Jiminy jumped off it just in time.

Kirito and Sora led the team to the hanger, through the door, and down to the Gummi ship. They got into the Gummi ship, and everyone came down to watch them go. The team got to their seats, and a new seat was added close to the computer, made specifically for Yui. She sat down into it and typed away at the keyboard. "Everything raring to go!" Yui told the team, "Whenever you're ready?" "Let's go!" Sora cheered. The platform the Gummi ship was on spun around towards the Mickey head-shaped door as it opened. The Gummi ship's engine started up. "Countdown for launch in 3…2…1…blastoff!" Yui cried.

Suddenly, a flashing light appeared in front of them in a shape of an arrow pointing down, and the platform the ship was on split, and they fell down a hole beneath them, the crew screaming as the ship spun upside down. "No one said anything about this exiiiiiiiiit!" Asuna yelled as they fell. It was a long drop, but they came out of the hole out into space. the Gummi ship stopped itself, flipped around to face upwards, and flew off. Once the crew recovered, Kirito declared, "Yui, set coordinates to the nearest world!" "You got it!" Yui cried, punching in the coordinates to the nearest world, and they took off into the unknown, no sure of where this adventure would take them next.

* * *

**So here we are, the first episode is done. Yui's new look is posted on my Deviant Arts page. Hope you like the start of this new story. It's only gonna get better as the story goes on.**

* * *

**Next episode**

**Kirito: Crap, the engine blew!**

**Asuna: We need to land fast!**

**Sora: The new world is over there! Let's land there!**

**Yui: The propulsion system is not responding. We're going to crash!**

**Everyone: WAAAAAH!**

**Author: On the next Sword Art Kingdom II: Dimensional Bonds: Crash-land in Yusnaan! The New Power: Soul Drive!**

**Sora, Kirito & Asuna: Let's unlock the path to our bonded hearts!**


	2. Yusnaan! New Power: Soul Drive!

**This second episode is gonna contain characters from different genres of games and anime. This first visit will have the following characters:**

**Final Fantasy XII:**

**Vaan, Penelo, Kytes, Filo, Tomaj**

**Final Fantasy XIII:**

**Lightning, Snow, Sazh, Dajh, Hope, Serah, Mog**

**Ojamajo Doremi:**

**Dori, Reanne, Mirabelle, Witch Patina, Laralie**

**Other characters from the Final Fantasy games will make appearances later on, but this is only the first set. Anyways, enjoy this story, and I hope the characters personalities are sufficient!**

* * *

_(I do not own Kingdom Hearts or Sword Art Online. All I do is form my imagination from both stories, and share it with the world!)_

**Prologue: Technical Difficulties**

The Gummi ship had just left Disney Castle a minute ago, and was now flying through space, heading towards the new world. Sora, Kirito, Asuna, Donald, Goofy and Yui were all positioned in their respective places on the bridge of the ship. Sora, Donald and Goofy were looking outside into space. "See anything different about it?" Sora asked his friends. "Uh-uh." Donald replied. "Nope. I can't tell." Goofy agreed.

"What are you doing?" Kirito asked them. "We're trying to see if the space in your dimension is any different than the one in ours." Sora answered, turning back to Kirito, "So far, it looks just the same as ours." "I guess dimensional spaces might look all the same." Asuna assumed, "Either that, or maybe our two dimensions are just closely similar to each other."

"Your second assumption is correct, Asuna." said a voice over the speaker. The team turned to the screen to see Kayaba's face on the monitor. "Both of your dimensions share some sort of link to one another. In other words, their spacial atmospheres are similar." "That does make some sense, doesn't it?" Sora questioned the others.

"Even so, you should be cautious." Kayaba continued, "Just because they are similar doesn't mean they are exact. I'm going to examine the spacial atmosphere and see what kind of changes it has compared to the other dimension. You will probably be at the first world by the time I'm done." With that, the monitor went blank. "Why does that not sound satisfying?" Kirito sighed. Sometimes, Kayaba's words just make everything seem a bit more uneasy.

"Yui, how long do we have 'til were there?" Goofy asked Yui, who was typing away at the computer. "Approximately seventeen minutes." she replied, checking the smaller monitor in front of her. Kirito and Asuna were watching Yui at work, brushing off her draped sleeves from the keyboard once in a while. They could tell that Yui was glad to be in her human form, and that she was able to fight along side her family instead of being in Kirito's pocket, waiting to be summoned.

"These clothes are gonna take some getting use to." Yui sighed, lifting her sleeves up once again from the screen. "I think it looks adorable on you, Yui." Asuna giggled. "Yeah, you should keep this sort of look." Kirito agreed. "Really?" Yui asked, turning to them. She saw them admiring her look, and she blushed a bit. "I guess I'm so use to my usual dress in SAO, that I never really though about changing my look. How about you Sora? Do you like it?" Sora was a bit flustered to answer, but he said, "Uh, yeah. Of course I do! It's just no ones ever asked me to critic their fashion before, not even Kairi." Yui giggled happily. "Then I guess I'll keep it!" Yui decided, turning back to the computer.

They continued onto their journey through space, where nothing really happened during that time. Finally, a minute to arrival, and the team looked out and saw the new world they were heading towards. From what they could tell, it was bright and cheery. It looked like it was evening in that world, and they could already see all of the sparkling lights of a city down below.

"I wonder what this place is called?" Sora asked. "Yui, can you figure it out for us?" Kirito asked. "I don't know. This computer doesn't contain the information of this dimension." Yui replied. "Well that's a shame." Kirito sighed. "Oh, I think it might be fun just figurin' all this stuff out when we go down to that world." Goofy stated. "But where should we land?" Kirito asked.

Suddenly, the Gummi ship shook incredibly. Everyone cried out in shock as they held onto something. "What the heck was that?!" Kirito demanded. "The engine suddenly just blew." Yui answered frantically, looking at the ship on the monitor, "We're losing power fast! I'm having difficulty controlling it!" "Is there any way of fixing it?!" Asuna asked. "More smiles! More smiles!" Donald shouted. "It's gonna take more than smiles to repair this ship." Yui told them.

"Land the ship towards that world!" Sora shouted, pointing to the world close to them, "We can fix it there!" Donald got to the driver's seat and started steering the ship down to the surface. Everyone else struggled to hold onto their seats as the Gummi ship started spinning down to the world before them. "Put the brakes on!" Kirito shouted. "I'm trying!" Donald shouted, pulling back on the wheel. "The thrusters aren't responding!" Yui cried, "It's no use! We're gonna crash!" Everyones anguish cries could be heard as the Gummi ship spiraled its' way down to the surface of the world, unable to be controlled.

Down on the surface of the world, the Gummi ship was spiraling itself down into the middle of the city. Suddenly, four sparkling lights shot out of the ship; one went one way, while three went another way. The three separate set of projectiles dispersed across the city, landing in different spots.

_(Cue 'New World' by Twill)_

**Chapter 1: Lightning Strikes & Snow Storms**

Sora had passed out on landing. He was lying face down on the ground in front of a train station. The sound of a train was the thing that got him to wake up. He stirred, then groaned as he got to his hands and knees, then stood up. "Where am I?" he asked himself as he looked around. It early evening, and the sky was a dark blue. The city was huge, and people were walking around here and there. Off in the distance, Sora could see an immense palace of some kind. Lights sparkled all around from the buildings to the lamp posts.

Sora jumped out of the way as people started walking out of the station. "Woah! This place is so cool!" Sora gasped, smiling as he looked around, "But I wonder what it's called?" Sora heard a voice on the speaker behind him. "Now arriving to the city of Yusnaan. Please watch your step as you exit the train. Thank you, and have a nice day." "Yusnaan, huh?" Sora repeated, "That's a funny name."

He then realized something; none of his friends were with him. "Donald! Goofy! Kirito! Asuna! Yui!" Sora shouted out. No one answered. "Guess we must've gotten separated after the crash." Sora assumed, "Guess I better go look for them." Sora started to run out into the street, searching for his friends. He found a map of the city, and started looking around the place, starting with Glutton's Quarter; where Sora noticed a lot of food shops. The smell of the food was tantalizing, but he needed to stay focus in order to find his friends.

After some time walking, he found himself in 'Cactaur Plaza', where a large statue of a glowing cactus-like creature. Sora looked up at the statue, then looked around the place. "Where are they?" Sora muttered, "They couldn't have gone too far…" Suddenly, out of the ground came a bunch of Shadow Heartless, surrounding him. "Heartless!" Sora gasped, seeing he was surrounded. He whipped out his Keyblade and started striking at the Heartless around him.

While he was fighting, he realized his strength wasn't like it was before. He grew somewhat weaker, and he could no longer cast magic. All but his Limit Drive Form disappeared on him, too. It was as if he was starting at square one again with his power. Eventually, he was backed into a corner, with more Heartless coming at him. _What's going on?_ Sora thought to himself, _Why am I not getting as much strength as before?_ He was panting as he held his Keyblade at the ready, waiting for the right moment to attack.

Just then, a Thunder spell came out of nowhere, striking down upon three along side him. Sora turned to see where the attack hit from, then looked up just in time to see someone jump down from one of the rooftops in the empty space. She was a young woman in her early twenties, with long rose colored hair, with a bit that hanged over her left shoulder, and pale aqua eyes. Her attire was somewhat a military style kind, with a white shirt with tan straps, green shoulders, a brown belt wrapped around underneath her chest, and dark tan shorts with no leggings. She had black boots, a red bag strapped on her left leg, a black case on her belt, a green metallic pauldron on her left shoulder with yellow stripes, and a red cape. She was also ornamented with a necklace and lightning bolt pendant.

Sora was amazed at her entrance, though she looked to him very sternly, somewhat like how Leon looked at him. "Looks to me like you could use a hand here, Keyblade's chosen one." she noticed, walking up to him. "Who are you? And how do you know about the Keyblade?" demanded Sora. "We can save the discussion after we defeat the Heartless." the woman replied, pulling out her gun and flipping it out to reveal it's sword form, "Unless you want to back out?" "No way!" Sora barked, getting back into battle position, "I've barely even started!" "Then lets get to it." she stated, and the two charged at the swarm.

It was easily clear that this woman was skilled. She was powerful and swift, making strikes with her gunblade in its' sword form, then folding it up into gun form to shoot at enemies far away. She was also capable of using Thunder-based magic, too. Sora felt as if he was fighting alongside Leon again, except Leon used Fire.

When the fight was over, the woman folded up her gunblade and placed it into the black case. Sora relieved his Keyblade and turned to her. "Thanks a lot for the help." Sora thanked her. "I didn't do this to save you." she responded, turning away from him, "I did this to protect the city from the Heartless. Besides, since you are the chosen wielder of the Keyblade, you should be able to fend for yourself." "Yeah, well I'm usually a lot stronger than this." Sora said, leaning back, "And I also have my friends along side me to help me out. Did you happen to see them?" "No." she answered, walking away.

"Hey, hold on a moment!" cried Sora, racing up right next to her, "You still haven't given me your name yet, or why you know the Keyblade." The woman stopped and turned to the boy. "If you want to know, I've learned about the Keyblade a long time ago. As for who I am…it's Lightning. But call me Light."

"Nice to meet you, Light." greeted Sora, "I'm Sora. And as for my friends, their names are Donald, Goofy, Yui, Kirito, Asuna. The last two use Keyblades like me." "They're are more chosen ones?" Lightning asked, surprised. "Sure. I'll introduce them to you once we find them. I'm sure they'll be interested in you. C'mon!" Sora answered, dashing a few steps ahead of her.

"Who said I was helping? Aw, forget it." Lightning sighed, "Fine, I'll help you find your friends. You must've been part of those falling lights and ship before, right?" "Yeah." Sora replied simply. "Then lets head to the ship first." Lightning suggested, "I saw where it landed. It's at Auger's Quarter." "Auger's Quarter. Right!" Sora understood, "Lead the way, Light." And with that, the twosome walked along the streets towards their next destination.

During this time, Kirito, Yui and Donald found themselves looking around an industrial area. "Where do we go?" Donald asked in a puzzled tone. "We need to find the others." Kirito suggested, "We've been calling out to the others, but to no response. Yui, is Asuna nearby?" Yui closed her eyes and concentrated. "I can't tell." she answered, opening her eyes, "As far as I know, I don't think I have the power to detect mama's presence anymore. It must've been exchanged for these new powers I've gained."

Kirito looked disappointed at first, then smiled. "Don't worry. I bet you'll gain them again after a little while." he assured, "It just takes a lot of experience, which you'll get in battle." Speaking of which, the team had to deal with a few Heartless before this moment, and Kirito realized that he was not as strong as he was before. A lot of his skills had disappeared, along with all of his magic and Drive Forms, except his Limit Form. Yui's assumed that maybe during the travel to this dimension, their powers were 'reset' back to what they were like before.

They started walking out of the industrial area when more Heartless suddenly showed themselves. "These guys just won't quit!" Kirito exclaimed, whipping his Keyblade out as Donald and Yui pulled their weapons out. They begun attacking the swarm of Shadows, Soldiers and Red Nocturnes that appeared before them. Donald used a Blizzard spell while Yui unleashed a dancing slash combo with her fan, called 'Fan Fair'. Kirito just did what he did best, slicing and dicing at the opponents with his Keyblade.

After defeating all of them, the trio stood there, looking at the spot where the Heartless were once at. Just then, a male voice called out to them. "Hey, not bad for a Keyblade wielder!" The three looked up to see a man in his early twenties sitting on the edge of a crate two stories above them. He had blond hair that was covered by a black bandana and blue eyes. He had a beige trench coat with frayed hems, a light blue vest over a black shirt, dark gray pants, gray shoes, black gloves, and a blue scarf hanging from his belt. He also had a pendant around his neck, and a strange tattoo on his left arm.

"You guys really are something." the man stated, getting to his feet, "I mean, first you fall out of the sky like that and still come out alive, then your taking away all of my opponents without letting me have a chance at them. You're making me lose my credibility as a hero of this town." "It's not my fault your so slow at the uptake." Kirito sassed at him. Donald and Yui were both startled at Kirito's remark. "Papa, don't antagonize him!" Yui exclaimed.

"Hey, no one insults me and gets away with it!" barked the man, leaping down from his position to the ground, and raising his fists, "How 'bout you put your money where your mouth is, kiddo?" Kirito wasn't asking for this, since he needed to find Asuna and Sora as soon as he could. Nevertheless, he was never a guy to back down from a fight, and he wasn't gonna stop now. Kirito raised his Keyblade into battle position, ready to take this guy on. They stared at each other for a second, then the two guys charged at one another.

Kirito and the man had begun brawling with one another. Though Kirito wasn't as strong as he usually was, he was able to be at an even level with this guy. The man was no slouch either. He was able to take a hit well, and turn around with a jab from his fists, which hurt a lot more than normal punches. He was even able to cast Blizzard spells from his hands at Kirito, who did his best to block or avoid them.

After several minutes of this, the two boys stood there, breathing heavily from their brawl. Donald and Yui watched intently as they stood there, waiting to see what was gonna happen. Finally, the man lowered his fists and fell to one knee, panting. "Heh, I can see why that Keyblade chose you and not yours truly." he sighed, straightening himself up. "You know about the Keyblade?" Donald asked him. "Yeah, a friend of mine told me about them." the man replied, walking up to Kirito, "I didn't believe them at first, but after fighting you…" He rubbed his head and started to chuckle.

Kirito dismissed his Keyblade and raised his hand to him. "You put up a good fight." he commended him, "I'm Kirito. The two behind me are Donald and Yui." The man looked at him, then smirked as he met his hand. "Nice to meet ya. I'm Snow. Snow Villers." The two shook hands and let go of each other.

"I was hearing you guys talk from up above. Sounds to me like you guys are lost." Snow guessed. "We're trying to find our friends." Yui explained, "They fell from the sky with us. Do you know where they might be?" "I got an idea as to where they are at." Snow answered, "C'mon, I'll show ya." And with that, Snow led the trio out of the industrial area and into town.

**Chapter 2: Repair Reunion**

During the moments that Sora was meeting Lightning and Kirito's team met Snow, Asuna and Goofy were hanging out in a wide circular area know as Augur's Quarter, which became a mess after their Gummi ship landed in the center of the place, just barely missing the central statue. People in the vicinity either were scared off or mesmerized at what just happened. Goofy was examining the exterior of the Gummi ship while Asuna was inside, talking to Chip and Dale from the monitor.

"Do you have any idea what caused our ship to lose control like that?" Asuna asked. "Hmm, I don't know. But whatever caused it made the ship go nuts!" Chip answered. "From the look of things, the Gummi ship's engine, propulsion units, and several other parts of the ship were severely damaged from the crash." Dale examined, "It'll be impossible to fix it up from here!"

"So you're saying we're stranded." Asuna sighed, "Great, just how I wanted to start in this dimension." "We'll try to figure something out!" Chip squeaked. "In the meantime, stay put!" Dale finished. "Oh, ha-ha, very funny!" barked Asuna. She tapped a button, and the monitor went blank. "Honestly, can we at least get serious about this." Asuna sighed as she crawled out of the ship and down next to Goofy.

"So how'd it go in there?" Goofy asked. "Not good." Asuna answered, "It seems like we're stuck here. And with the other four missing, we won't be going anywhere even if we could." "Oh, I'm sure Sora and Kirito are all right." Goofy assured her, "Donald and Yui are prob'ly with them right now, too." "That's just like you, Goofy. Thinking optimistic even with all of these problems." Asuna sighed, "But we need to find a way to repair our ship, or we're never getting away from here." "Well it's a good thing we landed in this city. Maybe someone could help us." Goofy suggested.

"You guys look like you could use some help." said a young male voice. Asuna and Goofy turned to see a kid about Asuna's age. He had tanned skin, blond hair and grey eyes. He had on fingerless, metal gauntlets and a white, long-sleeve shirt with the collar sticking out over his open metal vest that was fastened by a blue and silver pendent. He also had black pants with knee-high steel boots, held up by a red sash and several ornaments around his waist.

He was just walking through the gates into the area, walking up to the duo and the ship. "Who are you?" asked Asuna. "Hey, you shouldn't ask me that. After all, you guys did just fall out of the sky with your airship. Why don't YOU guys tell me who you are, first." the boy told them. Asuna and Goofy looked to each other, then back to him. "Sounds fair, I guess." Asuna agreed, "I'm Asuna." "And I'm Goofy." Goofy introduced himself. "Hey there. I'm Vaan." said the boy, leaning back a bit like Sora.

"That's a pretty nice ship you have there." Vaan continued, walking over to the ship, "You guys sky pirates?" "Sky pirates?" Asuna echoed, not sure of what they were, "Sorry, but we're…" she then stopped herself. She almost told him that she was from a different world. It was a rule not to tell others about other worlds unless they knew it themselves. "We're just travelers explorin' places." Goofy cut in, Asuna hurriedly nodding in agreement. "That's right. But as you can tell, our ship crashed, and it's beyond our repair."

"Well I know someone who could help you guys." Vaan told them, "If we can move this ship over to his place, I bet he could fix it up." "Who's he?" Asuna asked. "His name's Sazh." Vaan answered, "He's an old guy who use to be an airship pilot. But now, he's taking care of me and my best friend, Penelo at his place, and we fix ships now. We've been doing this since our worlds were overrun by the Heartless."

"The Heartless took over your worlds?" Asuna repeated, surprised. "Yeah, and this is all that's left of those two worlds." Vaan ended, waving his hand around the place. Asuna and Goofy looked saddened at this. "The Heartless have been attacking this dimension, too." muttered Asuna, curling her fist, "So it's not just the Unversed we have to deal with…"

"Um, you okay?" asked Vaan, seeing the anger in her face. "Y-Yeah, I'm all right." Asuna replied, shaking the feelings off, "So how do we move the Gummi ship?" "With an airship, of course." Vaan answered, "I'll go ask Sazh if he can bring one to pick up your ship. I'll be back!" And with that, Vaan dashed away through the gates and down the stairs. "Gawrsh, he's pretty nice." Goofy stated. "Childish and overly helpful." Asuna described him, "Kinda like a certain friend of ours." Asuna and Goofy looked to one another and started laughing. The boy was a lot like Sora.

They were waiting around for a minute before something also came their way, but it wasn't the airship. A group of Heartless and Unversed suddenly came into their path. Goofy and Asuna instinctively pulled out their weapons at the sight of them. "Great, both set of enemies put together!" Asuna sighed, seeing the kind of Unversed they fought before mixed with the Shadow and Soldier Heartless. The two got into position, then charged at the horde.

The Heartless and Unversed were definitely strong in forces, but their attack patterns were somewhat similar to each other. The only difference was that the Unversed were more agile while the Heartless had more brute strength. This wasn't the real problem to them. What was a problem was the fact that their attacks were weaker. They couldn't pull off strong skills, nor use their Limit Break together. Asuna was unable to use magic, and her only Drive Form was her Limit Form. This caused a lot of problems for the duo.

They were doing their best fending off the Heartless and Unversed from the ship, but they continued to swarm. "Their's just no end to these things!" Asuna panted as she and Goofy were backed into a corner, with more enemies surrounding them. Just then, a familiar voice called out to them. "Asuna! Goofy!" It was Sora, racing up the steps with Lightning at his side. "Sora!" cried Asuna and Goofy in unison.

Sora and Lightning both pulled out their blades and sliced a path to the duo. "Hey there, what'd I miss?" Sora asked. "Just a ton of enemies surrounding us right now." Asuna answered as Sora and Lightning turned to face the Heartless and Unversed, "Who's she?" "This is Lightning." Sora introduced her, "She helped me find you guys." "We can save our greetings for later!" Lightning snapped at them, "Let's clear these creatures out first." "Right!" the other three responded.

With more help with them, the team found it much easier to handle the Heartless and Unversed than before. Sora and Goofy were fighting together more as Lighting and Asuna tag-teamed together, which worked since their fighting styles worked so well together. The Heartless were attacking randomly at all of the team, but the Unversed were mostly attacking the Keyblade wielders, mainly Asuna again. It was odd why they were particularly attacking her, but Asuna wasn't gonna just stand around and figure it out.

Once the area was cleared of the enemy, the team settled down and got together again. "You guys okay?" Sora asked Asuna and Lightning. "Yeah, thanks to your guys' help." Asuna replied, looking to Lightning, "You're very strong. Thanks for helping us." "It wasn't too much trouble." Lightning replied, looking at Asuna and her Lambent Light, "So you are indeed another Keyblade wielder. Tell me, where did you come from?" Asuna was surprised that she knew about the Keyblade, but before she could answer, the sound of something in the air caused them to look up.

A large aircraft came flying over their position and started lowering itself down underneath the wreckage of the Gummi ship. The floor of the ship opened up, and a couple of cables fell out of it, lowering itself down to the broken ship. With the cables came two figures; Vaan, and a girl about Vaan's age. She had blue eyes and long blond hair styled into pigtails, which were held by plaits and two long side bangs. She had on a short gray top that showed her midriff, dark red pants with red and purple patterns, and gold shoes that curled at the toes. From her look, Asuna guessed that she was a dancer of some kind.

Once they reached ground level, they joined up with the four standing alongside the ship. "Hey there, Light! You happy to see us?" Vaan shouted over the engine of the ship above them. "Heh, don't make it sound like I was waiting for you, Vaan. I'd rather wait for Snow." Lightning answered sarcastically, "But still, glad to see you're ok. You too, Penelo."

"Thanks, Lightning." Penelo answered, attaching one of the cable onto one part of the Gummi ship, "Vaan and I will take care of things here. Can you bring these guys over to Sazh place for us, please? I'm guessing they have no idea how to get around here." "I'm not a guide for any random person." Lightning told them, "But, I was planning to go there anyway, so I guess I'll bring them along with me."

"Great, thank!" Penelo thanked her, then seeing Vaan not doing anything, she barked, "Vaan! Help me out here!" "Oh, right." Vaan replied in a forgotten tone, rushing over and fixing the cables onto the ship. Once they were all attached, they crawled onto the top of the ship as it was being hoisted up into the airship above them. It went inside, closing the hatch before it took off.

Lightning turned to Sora, Asuna and Goofy. "Sounds to me like you guys are good friends." Sora assumed. "Those two? I only consider them equals, nothing more." Lightning corrected them. "Equals?" Sora echoed. "You see, those two have been through a lot of trouble with their friends, just like me and my comrades." Lightning explained, "Though we are from different worlds, our trials we've been through with our comrades and friends are one in the same." Sora, Asuna and Goofy looked to one another, confused.

"Vaan may be strong, but he is a child, and a naive one at that." Lightning ended, turning and walking out of Augur's Quarter, "He's just like you, Sora." "Hey!" barked Sora, causing Asuna and Goofy to laugh, since it was true. Lightning turned to Sora, and she smirked at him. "C'mon. I know where Sahz's place is at. Let's go there." "Right." Sora responded, still ticked from being called 'childish and naive'. With that, the team walked out of the square and towards Sahz's place.

**Chapter 3: Hangar Hangout**

As they walked, Asuna and Lightning had begun questioning her, asking her about a lot of things, like what was her world like, and how she learned about the Keyblade. Lighting's answers were simple, saying that when the Heartless started attacking the worlds, a friend of hers, named Hope, told her about the Keyblade. She learned that the Keyblade is only given to a chosen few, and so for her to see two Keyblade wielders before her was surprising. Asuna told her that her boyfriend, Kirito, also had one, but so far, he, Yui and Donald haven't shown up yet.

They dealt with several Heartless and Unversed along the way, but their teamwork was unstoppable when it came to dealing with them. When Asuna asked about the Unversed, Lightning replied that this was the first time dealing with them. They only showed up the moment a strange masked man appeared in town a couple days ago. Sora, Asuna and Goofy believed it to be Vanitas. That guy sure was mysterious.

As they ventured through town, they found themselves in the shopping district. Lighting told them what stores were available right now. They saw a potion's shop, led by a young kid from Vaan's world named Kytes. There was an armor shop, which was led by another friend of Vaan's named Filo. The weapon's shop was led by a third friend of Vaan's named Tomaj, and his ally Cu Sith. The trio thought it be wise to spend a little bit of their munny on getting new equipment, so they got a couple potions and a new shield for Goofy. Once they found the others, they planned on getting a new tessen and staff for them.

Two shops did strike them as they passed through. Asuna stopped at one point to look up at a shop that really stuck out from other shops. It looked more like a store from her world than this place. It was a small building with a tower next to it, and several windows all around. The place was painted in bright colors, and the front of the building had the name 'DoReMi Magic Shop' on it. A squeak drew her attention, and she saw a bat-shaped wind catcher close to her position. Asuna was puzzled by the look of the place, but Sora called out to her, and she moved on.

The second shop was a Moogle shop, but it was run by a moogle and a girl about Asuna's age. The girl looked a lot like Lightning, especially the rose-colored hair, only her hair was tied into a ponytail that draped over her left shoulder like Lighting's hair. She had blue eyes like her sister, though darker. She had on a white sleeveless dress shirt, a semi-transparent pink sweeper, and a red plaid-pleated skirt with black lace. She had black thigh-high stockings and ivory boots. He accessories were cat-shaped earrings and a pendant around her neck.

The moogle, who was carrying a staff with a clock and gem on it, was the first to rush over to their group. "Lightning!" cried the little moogle, flying at them. Lightning saw him coming, and instead of grabbing him, she raised one hand, and flicked it away before it got too close, surprising the others. The moogle bounced a couple times on the ground, then stabilized itself in the air. "Ow! What was that for, kupo?!" the moogle demanded. "I told you; no hugs, Mog." Lightning reminded the moogle. "Oh, come on, sis." the girl at the shop told her, "Mog and I just got done finishing up this shop, and he and I were so happy to tell you."

"Sis?" Sora echoed. "She's your sister?" Goofy asked Lightning. "Yeah, this is Serah. She's my younger sister." Lightning introduced her sister, who waved to the group, "And this is her pet moogle, Mog." "Nice to meet you." Asuna greeted her, walking up and shaking hands with her, "I'm Asuna. This is Sora and Goofy. Lightning was leading us to Sahz's place where our ship was built." "Glad to hear you're helping someone out here, sis." Serah said to her sister, who huffed a bit, but smirked.

"So is this shop like all the other Moogle shops we've been to?" Sora asked, looking at the place, "You know, like you craft stuff from material?" "You got it, kupo!" Mog replied eagerly, fly up to him, Asuna and Goofy, "Me and Serah work together to create new pieces of accessories, armor and healing uses here, kupo! If you have any material on you, bring it to us, and we'll put it to good use, kupo."

"This shop also serves as an accessories shop, which I run." Serah followed, "If you want to buy accessories, come to me, and I'll show you what I have." "Thanks a bunch!" Sora thanked them. "Here. Since you are our first customers, allow me to commemorate you with this, kupo!" Mog told Sora, handing him a small, circular device, "This will allow you to communicate with the Moogle shop in other worlds, but only in spots marked with the moogle symbol on the ground, kupo!" "Thanks." Sora thanked him, and he pocketed the device. "And here's something from me." Serah added, handing Asuna a Silver Ring, "I hope this comes in handy." "Thank you." Asuna thanked her, slipping onto her finger. "C'mon, we gotta get to Sazh's place!" Goofy told them, "Maybe the others are already there." "Right." Sora answered, and the four parted ways with Serah and Mog.

"You don't seem…close to your sister." Asuna pointed out to Lightning. "We've been together for a long time." Lightning explained, "We lost both of our parents long time ago. I had to act tough for the both of us, so I trained in the Guardian Corp." She stopped for a second, bringing the other three to a halt as well. "I was too distant from my sister, even though I still loved her. Then other troubles came our way, and I thought I lost my sister forever. Thankfully, I found a way to bring her back, but not alone. Snow, Sazh, Hope, Vanille and Fang. Together, we saved a whole world, and I brought her back. Now that I have this time to catch up with her, but I've forgotten how to be a good sister like before."

"It's easy, really." Asuna told Lightning, "Just being together, laughing together, playing together, and even fighting as one together. I may not have a sister, but I have friends, and they act like family to me. That's what Sora taught me." "We may be different, and our pride and stupidity may get in the way at times, but we still have fun together." Sora added, "Isn't that what having a family's all about? It's the same as friends." "Just start by talking together. That'll get you somewhere." Asuna finished. Lightning looked to Asuna for a second, then smiled a bit. "You have a point. Okay, I'll try. Thanks, Asuna. Sora." she thanked them, who smiled eagerly at her.

They continued to walk along the road until finally, they reached a large hangar that was Sazh's workshop. As they drew near, someone shouted out to them. "Hey, Light!" shouted a male voice. "Mama!" cried another voice. They turned and, to Sora, Asuna and Donald's enjoyment, they saw Kirito and a man known as Snow leading Donald and Yui over to them. "Guys!" Sora shouted, waving his hand enthusiastically. "Kirito! Yui!" Asuna cried joyfully, thankful that they were all right. The six reunited with one another, greeting with one another.

"Glad you found their friends, sis." Snow told Lightning. "I'm not your sister…at least not yet." Lightning retorted, "Let's wait until our worlds are back to normal, okay?" "All right, all right. I gotcha. Heroes duty comes first." Snow understood, turning away a bit, only to turn around and smirk, "But hey, at least you still approve, you know, for me and Serah getting married."

Lightning smiled and smirked. "Like I said, after our worlds are normal again." Lightning repeated, turning over to the six people that were chatting with one another, "And those guys might be our only hope." "You mean Kirito? He's a Keyblade wielder, you know." Snow asked, staring at the black swordsman. "And so are Sora and Asuna." Lightning added. "Seriously? Three Keyblade wielders?" Snow gasped, seeing the boy and girl he hadn't met yet. "Yep." Lightning answered, "And with their hearts, I bet they could be able to use 'that' power." "That one, huh?" Snow said, rubbing his chin, "Yeah, they could be able to use it."

"What're you guys talking about?" Sora asked, walking up to them with the others in tow. "Nothing at the moment." Lightning responded, "But we'll show you something after seeing Sazh and your ship." "So our ship's here?" Kirito asked, looking at the hangar. "Yeah, it was badly damaged." Sora told him, "But don't worry, it'll be good as new once they fix it! Let's go take a look." And with that, the group all walked into the hangar.

When they entered into the hangar, they found the Gummi ship in the middle of the place, hanging by wires. Vaan was inside the cockpit, looking at how to fly the thing. Penelo was busy playing with a young, dark-skinned boy with a black afro and a small yellow chick. Someone in black boots was underneath the Gummi ship, fixing it up. There was a large computer nearby, and a boy around Sora's age sat there.

As the team drew in nearer, they heard the man underneath the Gummi ship cry, "Oh, for the love of all that's good, how in the world did they actually make this thing? None of it makes sense! I mean, who built this; a couple of chipmunks?" The six heroes looked to each other, suppressing the urge to burst out laughing. "Hey, old man. Brought the owners of this ship." Snow called out. The man rolled himself out from underneath the ship and sat up.

At first glance, Kirito assumed that the young boy with Penelo was his son. The man looked like an older version of him, middle-aged. He wore a long, olive coat, white button-down shirt, and a khaki trousers. He had on engineer boots and a couple of holsters on his thighs where he would carry his pistols. The pistols in question were on a table nearby them.

"So you guys are the ones with this old hunk of junk, huh?" Sazh assumed. "Hey, it's not a hunk of junk!" Donald squawked angrily at him. "I didn't mean any offense." Sazh told them, "I was just sayin' this thing is quite a wreck right now. I've never seen any ship like it. Where'd you get it?" "It's kind of a long story." Sora answered innocently.

"Well, in any case, you guys seem to be traveling to different worlds with this kind of spaceship." Vaan guessed, hopping out of the cockpit, "What happened; did your world got destroyed by those Heartless?" "Not exactly." Kirito answered, looking to one another, all of them agreeing to tell them, "In truth, we're not really from this dimension. I mean, Asuna, Yui and I are…" he pointed to the two girls, "But Sora and his friends aren't. Our world came through a portal through this dimension."

There was a moment's pause, during which everyone turned to look at them, surprised. Even the boy at the computer turned around to them. He had short silver hair, light blue-green eyes, an orange and yellow jacket, a green scarf over a black shirt, black gloves, green cargo pants and green boots.

Finally, Sazh snorted. "Kids, full of imaginative stories aren't they." "It's the truth!" barked Sora. "I believe it's probably possible." Lighting agreed with him, "Sora, Kirito and Asuna here are all chosen wielders of the Keyblade." "Seriously?!" Sazh questioned in a surprised tone. "Keyblade?" gasped the boy at the desk who stood up. "But, I thought Keyblades were a myth!" said Vaan, walking up to the three, "You're saying you guys can use them?" Sora nodded, and he revealed his Kingdom Key Keyblade. The people in front of them were stunned at the sight of the Keyblade. Kirito and Asuna followed by revealing their Keyblades.

"Well, I'll be…" gasped Sazh, seeing the weapons in the three kids hands. "Woah, those are cool!" Vaan exclaimed. "Those are some large keys!" said the kid next to Penelo. The boy at the computer walked over to the group. "Might I see one of them, please?" he asked. "And you are?" Kirito asked suspiciously. "Hope. Hope Estheim." the boy answered, "I'm a friend of Light." Kirito looked to Lightning, who confirmed his words, then he handed over his Elucidator to him.

Hope held it in both hands, examining the Keyblade. "This is real." he stated, amazed as he grabbed the handle and held it up, "This is a real Keyblade." Then the Keyblade glowed brightly, and returned to Kirito's hand. "And you are indeed its' chosen ones." Hope finished, looking from Kirito to Sora and Asuna. "You got it." Kirito confirmed, "I'm Kirito. This is Asuna and Sora. And over here are Donald, Goofy and Yui." Everyone waved at them.

"How is our ship?" Donald asked Sazh. "It'll take some time to fix it, and give it a few upgrades." the old man replied, "Your engine was damaged the most. I'm guessin' your spacial atmosphere is slightly different from ours. The stability of the ship's engine couldn't handle the atmosphere, and that's what caused your engine to blow."

"Gotcha." Kirito understood, "So how long will it take for you to fix it up? And how much do we have to pay?" "Don't worry. I don't need the munny." Sazh told them, "You guys hold Keyblades, so you should be able to take care of all those dang Heartless and Unversed out there and save our worlds. That'll be the payment." "You got it!" Sora replied with a smile.

"Since you guys are gonna face those creatures, I should give you this." Hope said, handing Kirito a device that was like an eye piece used to examine stuff, "It's got basic info on all the Heartless and Unversed you'll meet. It will activate at any new enemy you see." "Then this should be given to Yui." Kirito stated, walking over to Yui with it, "She's our examiner on all our enemies." Yui took the device and placed it on her inner earlobe and the eye piece settled itself over her eye. Yui gave the thumbs up confirming it to be in place.

"Your spaceship's gonna take some time fixing." Sazh explained, "So you can either stay around here or you can go out and explore the town." "Actually, I have a place in mind." Lightning cut in, drawing the attention to her. "What is it?" Asuna asked. "It's a place where you'll be able to gain new powers." Snow answered, "The owner of the shop's a grumpy old blob, but I'm sure they'll understand."

"Okay, where's it at?" Kirito asked them. "It's back at the shopping district." Lighting answered, turning to Vaan, "You should follow us, Vaan. You have to lend your strength to them." "Not a problem." Vaan replied, "Let's get moving!" And with that, Vaan led the team out of the hangar to the outside.

**Chapter 4: Iron Imprisoner Round 2**

As soon as they left the hangar, Lightning stopped them for a second. "Do any of you know how to use magic?" she asked them. "Well, we could." Sora answered, looking to Kirito and Asuna. "The problem is we don't have the power to use any spells right now." Asuna ended.

"Then let me give you some of these." Lightning told them, waving her hand into the air. She conjured up three small green orbs with four yellow stars around it. "Magic orbs!" Asuna realized. "These are Thunder Elements." Lightning explained, "You should be able to use Thunder magic from them." The three orbs went to each Keyblade wielder, who absorbed their power. "Hey, don't leave me out of it!" exclaimed Snow, stepping forwards and whipping his hand, producing more magic orbs, "These Blizzard Elements should work for you too, right? Go ahead, take em'!" Kirito thanked him as he and the other two took the orbs and absorbed them.

Just then, an outcry of Lightning and Snow's names drew their attention. Everyone turned to see Serah and Mog rushing towards them, looking panic-stricken. "What's the matter?" Lightning asked hastily as she got in close. "Monsters…" Serah panted, "Those creatures are attacking the shopping district!" "Sounds like we're up!" Snow answered, thumping his fists together. "Let's get moving!" Kirito exclaimed, and the group rushed off to the shopping district.

When they arrived, people were in a panic as they rushed away from all the chaos that the Heartless and Unversed were doing. Serah led the team past the crowd and to where the monsters were at. "There!" Serah proclaimed, pointing at them. Everyone drew their weapons and got into battle position, ready to take them on. "There's a lot of them." Kirito stated as he stood next to Goofy and Snow. "We can take em' if we work together!" Sora stated as he was with Vaan and Yui. "These things won't know what hit them!" said Asuna as Donald and Lightning stood by her side. With that, the teams dispersed, taking on the swarm.

They were divided out into three groups. Kirito's team was basically the physical fighters. Goofy smacked around the opponents with his shield, Snow unleashed his barrage of punches, and Kirito devastated them with a flurry of slashes. Kirito started to also use the new Blizzard magic he was given, knocking away the enemies.

Meanwhile, Asuna's side was mostly magic users, with Donald and his assortment of magic from his staff, Lightning's close and long ranged attacks, and Asuna's rapier-style fighting and Thunder magic. Once again, a lot of the Unversed continued to attack Asuna more, but she was starting to get use to the attack.

Sora, Vaan and Yui were all-around fighters, using magic and physical attacks. Vaan was an great sword fighter, and he was able to use fire and wind type magic, which balanced with Sora's ice and thunder type magic. As for Yui, she was only able to use her fan for slashing things at the moment, but she was helpful to analyze the Unversed with her new piece of equipment.

They found out the new creatures to be called Flood and Scrapper Unversed, and two other creatures joined the battle; Big Body Heartless and Bruiser Unversed. But this was no problem for any of the teams. What were problems were the fact that a lot more Heartless and Unversed kept appearing as they took them out.

Finally, they cleared a lot from the shopping district, leaving a handful of them left. "Just clean this part out, and it's mission accomplish." Lightning told the team. "That's it? I'd barely call these things a warm-up!" Snow exclaimed. "Maybe these things should call for backup." sassed Vaan. "Don'd jinx it, pal." Kirito warned Vaan, but like their luck have it, his wish was granted.

From behind them, flames produced itself, and everyone looked around to see the large Unversed they dealt with before settling itself in the middle of the street. "This things again?!" Asuna gasped, seeing it. "We did it before, we can do it again!" exclaimed Sora. Just then, the chains around its arms started to crack, and finally, they broke, freeing its arms and gauntlets, revealing its' red collar. Then in a flurry of flames, a large black and red hammer with spikes on its' head produced itself into his hands, and it held it at the ready. The head even started to catch fire a bit.

"This could be a problem." Asuna stated as they saw the new form of the Unversed. "We can't back down now!" Kirito said abruptly. "He's right! All we have to do is beat it, right?" Sora asked the group, then he turned to Lightning and Snow. "Can you guys handle those things behind us? We'll handle him!" "You got it!" Snow answered with a thumbs up. "Be on your guard!" Lightning warned them, then the two rushed into the fight, leaving Vaan and the rest of the group to deal with the Unversed.

"Yui, Analyze!" Kirito declared. "Got it!" Yui answered, focusing her scanner onto the large beast, "It's the Iron Imprisoner version II. With it's arm free and its' hammer produced, it has gained more speed and range." "Then let's show it that those kinds of upgrades are meaningless to us!" Kirito declared, and the team charged at the Iron Imprisoner.

Yui wasn't kidding with the range the Unversed had. It started out by swinging its' flaming hammer around twice, then slammed it into the ground, causing a fiery shockwave. This caused great deal of damage to Sora, Yui and Asuna, who were tossed back by the attack, burnt.

Kirito led Donald, Goofy and Vaan into attacking the Imprisoner, slashing and bashing at it. The monster barely flinched, and started spinning into a fiery tornado, knocking all but Kirito back, who was being pushed by the top, dealing continuous damage. It then started jumping around as it spun, everywhere it landed caused fiery shockwaves. It did this twice before coming to a stop.

"Dammit, our attacks aren't as strong as they were before we fought this things." Kirito grimaced as he got up, the singes stinging him. "We need Fire magic. It's the only thing that makes it flinch!" Asuna stated, helping Yui to her feet again. "But we don't know Fire magic!" Sora stated. "You don't, but I do!" Vaan told them. "Me too!" Donald followed, raising his staff.

"Okay, everyone. We need Donald and Vaan's support on dealing with this thing!" Kirito told the team, "Make sure they get clear shots. Once they hit it with fire magic, unleash all you got onto it before it recovers. It's gonna take a lot of teamwork to get this done, so stick to the plan!" "Right!" shouted the team. To them, Kirito was the strategist of the trio of Keyblade wielders.

They charged at the Imprisoner, who came at them with hammer at hand. It started to swing it at them. "Goofy, block!" Kirito shouted, and the two gained a firm ground as they endured the swings from the Imprisoner's attack. It was about to bring it down upon them, but the two dived out of the way just in time.

Asuna and Sora unleashed Blizzard magic from a distant at the Unversed, dealing a small amount of damage. Yui came from behind it and slashed it a couple times with her tessen, making it turn to her. It was about to swing its' hammer at her, but Donald came in and unleashed Fire magic onto it, making it flinch. Using this opportunity, Goofy charged at the enemy with his shield, while Kirito slashed furiously at it. The Imprisoner attempted to recover, but a fireball Fire spell from Vaan made it flinch again. Goofy and Kirito leapt from the sides as to give Asuna and Sora a chance to slash and jab at it, knocking it back even further.

Meanwhile, Lightning and Snow finished dealing with the remaining Unversed, and turn to see the others fight the Iron Imprisoner. "Let's give em' a hand." Snow suggested, walking forward. Lightning put up an arm to stop him, causing him to turn to her. "They can handle this without us." she told him, watching the three Keyblade wielders, "Besides, this is a good opportunity to see how strong those three are."

The team kept a strong front against the Imprisoner, who kept striking, spinning and burning like crazy at them. It even started to use its' gibbet lasers like before, which did cause some trouble at the team, but they either backed off or jumped over and at the Unversed itself. They made sure that Vaan and Donald had clear shots at the Imprisoner, giving them opportunities to unleash Fire magic upon it. If they were critically injured, Asuna and Sora would use the potions they bought before to heal them.

After several minutes of fighting it off, Donald's magic power was depleted, and they were out of potions. The Imprisoner was nearly defeated, but it was still troublesome to defeat. "We need to take it out in one shot!" Asuna cried to the team. "Then I think it's time we reach for our… _Limit!_" shouted Kirito, using his power to take form his Limit form. Vaan, Lightning and Snow were startled at the astounding transformation. "A Drive Form!" Lightning gasped, "So they really can to it!"

Kirito looked at the Imprisoner with sharp concentration. It started using its' lasers at Sora, Goofy and Vaan, and Kirito used this opportunity, and used his 'Sonic Leap' Sword Skill, leaping at the beast and knocking it hard. This caused the Imprisoner to flinch from the destructive power.

"Good idea!" Asuna followed, "_Limit!_" She went into her Limit form, and dashed at the monster, unleashing her 'Shooting Star' Rapier Skill at it, piercing right through the body. This caused the Unversed to roar in fury as it turned to Asuna and Kirito, its' hammer raised.

Sora stopped to turn at them, realizing their intentions. "_Limit!"_ yelled Sora, going into his Limit Form. Then rushed at the Imprisoner while its' back was turned, and unleashed a full flurry of slashes. He jumped off the body just as it turned around. Sora aimed his Keyblade at it, and unleashed his Ragnarok attack at its' max power, sending a swarm of light laser bursts, exploding on impact. He landed on the ground as the smoke cleared, seeing the Imprisoner shake in fury, then disappear in a column of flames once more. It was beaten…for now.

The team gathered together again, relinquishing their Drive Forms, turning back to normal. "Way to go, team!" Sora congratulated them. "Nice finisher, Sora." Kirito smirked at him. Sora eagerly grinned in response. "I'm just glad that was over." Asuna sighed in relief, turning to Vaan, "You helped us a lot out there." "It's no biggie." Vaan replied, leaning back, "That thing was gonna be toast from the get-go."

Away from their view, Vanitas was sitting on top of a building, looking down at them. He saw them all laughing and smiling at one another. "Impressive." he said silently, "It would be a shame to defeat them so easily. Even so, I got my eye on you. All three of you. I might even have to change my target." And with that, he stood up and walked away, disappearing from view.

**Chapter 5: Soul Drive**

As the team put their weapons away, Lightning and Snow joined the group. "Nice moves out there, guys." Snow commended them, "I didn't expect those Drive Forms. You certainly have some special gifts on you." "So you know about the Drive Forms?" Kirito asked them. "Actually, we know something related to that power that might benefit you in the future." Lightning corrected them, walking past them and down the shopping district, "Come on, I'll show you." The team followed her down the street, where people were starting to come back to now that the swarm was over.

They continued on their way, only to stop as promised by Sora and Asuna to get Donald and Yui new weapons. After a couple minutes, they arrived at their destination; the magic shop Asuna noticed before; the DoReMi magic shop. "So this is the place?" Kirito asked, slightly uneasy at the girly look of the place. "The place is run by an old hag and three little girls." Snow explained, "Their world disappeared, but they managed to bring their shop to this world."

"That's so sad." Asuna said sympathetically. "At least they survived." Sora pointed out, "And these people will be able to help us?" Lightning nodded. "Let's go in then." Goofy declared, and they entered the shop.

The interior of the shop was large, with a central table and shelves full of clay goods, rings and other little accessories. Their were stairs that let to an upper level of the room, where from the team's point of view, they could not see what was up there. There was also a door that led to a hallway.

As the team examined the place, Snow called out, "Hey, you old hag! Come out here, we need you for something!" "Stop calling me an old hag!" said a grumpy old woman's voice. Just then, two things flew up into the air and down to them. One was a fairy that looked about Yui's size if she was a fairy, only this fairy was a young woman. The other thing was a dustpan with a green blob on it. The strangest thing about the blob was that it was alive, with red lips, two black beady eyes, and a necklace with a round purple orb on it. These two were Laralie the fairy and Witch Patina.

Just then, movement in the hallway opposite to them caused the six heroes to look towards it. There were three girls, probably about eight years old each, standing at the door of the hallway. They were all dressed in some sort of witch's uniforms and hats, though it looked like it was made for Halloween.

The front girl was in pink, and had red hair with two buns sticking out from underneath her hat. The second girl's uniform was orange, and she had long, russet brown hair with a single bang that went down the right side of her face towards her shoulder. The third girl was in light blue, had tan skin compared to the others and neat blue shoulder-length hair that flipped at the end. These three girls were Dori, Reanne and Mirabelle respectively, and they were Witch Apprentices.

"What d'ya want now, blondie?" Patina asked as the two floated down to their level, "If ya ain't here to buy somethin', then just leave." "We're not here to buy anything." Snow barked at her. "We're here because we need you to provide some of your magic to these people." Lightning told Patina, pushing Snow aside and addressing the six people behind her.

Patina looked behind Lightning and Snow to see the six of them. "Why do ya want me to do that, huh?" Patina asked, "I don't see any reason why I should give them any magic for free." "But three of them are Keyblade wielders." said Lightning, "And if you and your girls provide your special powers to them, they should be able to defeat all of the Heartless and bring back our worlds."

"So you three are able to use Keyblades, huh?" Patina stated as he looked from Kirito to Sora, then to Asuna, "Hmm… Even so, I'm not too comfortable on giving you guys anything for free." "Oh, come on, Patina!" Dori exclaimed as she and the other two walked over to them, "If we want to get our world back, we should help them out." "Stop puttin' a price tag on every gosh-darn thing you provide to people, Patina." Mirabelle stated. "Don't you want to go home again? Don't you want to save everyone back in our world?" asked Reanne. "Please, Patina! Let's help them!" the three girls said in unison.

Patina looked to the three girls before her, who eyed her with intention. She then looked to Sora, Kirito and Asuna. Kirito opened his mouth to speak, but Asuna elbowed his arm. "Don't say anything you'll regret." Asuna warned him as Kirito massaged his arm. After a few seconds, Patina sighed, "Fine, we'll give them the power of the Soul Drive. But anything else you want will cost ya!" The three witch apprentices all smiled eagerly.

"Soul…Drive?" Sora echoed, "What's that?" "It's kinda like those Limit Drive Forms you demonstrated before, only in a much different package." "What d'ya mean?" Goofy asked. "You'll find out." Snow answered with a smirk. "All right, you Keyblade wielders, step forth." Patina demanded. They did as they were told, and the rest of their group backed off.

Dori, Reanne and Mirabelle got into a triangle formation, pulling out three odd-looking wands out. Patina stood at the sidelines with Laralie. One by one, the three girls spun the tops of their wands, saying an incantation at the same time, causing them to light up. When all three of them did so, a bright ball of light swirling with magical energy shot up over their heads. The orb around Patina's neck started to glow brightly, making the magical energy bigger. The Keyblade wielders were amazed at the display they were witnessing.

"Gather forth, the harmonious energies! Grant these three the power of Soul Drive!" Patina chanted. The ball of magic started to pour down its' essence onto the trio in the middle, and their bodies and clothes started to glow with the energy. Once the energy was fully given to them, the lights died down, and everything was normal.

Sora, Kirito and Asuna looked to one another, then down to their clothes. "Do ya feel any different?" Donald asked. "Not really…" Kirito answered, examining himself. "I don't feel at all different than before." Asuna pointed out. "Then maybe this will help." said Lightning as Snow and Vaan gathered next to her.

The three looked to the trio as they each raised a hand to their chest and closed their eyes. One by one, a ball of energy that seemed to come out from inside each of them formed itself into each of their own hands. They raised the lights high into the air, where they begun floating and dancing into the sky, only to rest themselves before the trio. Lightning's light fell to Asuna. Snow's light fell to Kirito. Vaan's light fell to Sora.

"Are these…Drive Orbs?" Kirito asked. "They are a part of our soul." Vaan answered, "Go ahead. Touch em' and watch what happens!" Each of them touched the light in front of them, and it dove into their bodies. It was like the first time they were granted a new Drive Form, only their body started to glow with it. They were lifted into the air, and a burst of light was released from all three of them. When it died down, everyone gasped at the sight of them. All three changed dramatically

Sora's vest had transformed into a metal vest, connected by a red-jeweled strap over his shirt, which was now red and white instead of red and dark blue. His pants were still black, though they showed more metal plating on the sides, with blue pieces on the sides of his waist. His belts were now red. His shoes were now black and silver, and they went up his leg a bit more, with metal plating on parts of it. His gloves were now fingerless gauntlets. His silver crown pendant still hung around his neck. His hair had now become a mix between his old light brown and blonde, though still the same style.

Kirito's coat had turned beige and was a bit looser. His inner shirt was black, and showed a bit more of his chest. His pants turned dark grey and his shoes were now laced instead of armored, now dark brown. He lost the armor pieces on his shoulders and arm, and his gloves were now full black, no longer fingerless. Kirito's cross straps still were there, deep red, and so was his Elucidator pendant. His hair was no longer visible, since it was covered by a black bandana.

Asuna's dress was now full white, with a blue belt that strapped itself underneath her chest, and it had short sleeves. She still had her pink straps across her chest, with the heart pendant in the middle. Her right arm had two black straps on the upper part, and her left arm had a long, black skin-tight band that went down to her wrist, Her gloves were now short, blue and white, and fingerless. Her black shorts stayed the same, though she lost her stockings. Instead, her boots were now knee-high, brown with white straps going down the leg. Her strips of cloth on her waist were replaced by a rose-pink cape that fell from her back. Her hair color didn't change, but a piece of her hair fell onto her left shoulder.

All three of them looked down themselves, amazed at the transformation. "Woah!" gasped Sora, looking to his vest down. "This is new." said Kirito, looking from his coat to his bandana. "I've got a completely new look!" Asuna exclaimed, spinning around to look at every angle, "I almost look like you, Light." "That's because those are your Soul Drive Forms of us." Lightning answered her.

"Seriously?" Sora gasped, feeling his gauntlets, "So we just became like you guys?" "Let me explain." Patina stated, floating in front of them, "We just gave you and your clothes a boost of harmony energy. So providing this energy grants you to new and powerful new forms."

"When you connect yourself with someone at a certain level, they are allowed to share their soul with you, which turns into a Drive Orb." Lightning explained, "Since Snow, Vaan and I know about this power, we were easily able to share our souls with you. Those who don't know about this power take more time in order to grant you their power. Once given, you're allowed to take on forms based on those souls. For example, Asuna, yours is called 'Savior Form', a reincarnation of my soul." "Where as you Kirito are in the 'NORA Form', my Drive Soul." Snow added. "And you, Sora, are now in my Drive Soul, 'Sky Pirate Form'." finished Vaan.

Asuna looked down at her hands, feeling the energy of this new attire. "It feels…kinda different to all the other forms we've dealt with before." she pointed out, "It's more closer to our Limit Forms, but not quite." "That's because your Limit Forms are reincarnations of your own souls, granted to you." Lightning answered her, "And just like your Limit Forms, Soul Drive also takes time leveling up, granting more and more of its' power to you." "Got it." Kirito understood, "So the more we use these forms, the more powerful they become."

"Gawrsh, seems like this power'll come in handy." Goofy stated. "You could be suited up for anything!" exclaimed Donald. "And the more Soul Drives you gather, the more diverse set of powers you are given!" Yui pointed out. The trio of Keyblade wielders reverted back to their normal form.

"Then I guess this means that we're all set!" Sora stated, smiling at the other two. "This puts a whole new meaning to 'multiple personalities'." joked Kirito, causing Sora and Asuna to laugh. "All we need to do is get our ship ready, and we'll be off!" said Asuna. "Let's head back to Sazh's hangar." Sora told the team, "I'm sure he's done with our ship right now."

The trio turned to Patina and the witch apprentices and bowed to them. "Thanks so much for this new power!" Sora thanked them. "Just make sure that it's not a waste of magic and time." Patina huffed at them. "We're able to grant you other kinds of magic, though we aren't able to give them to you at this time." Dori told them. "And I'm bettin' Patina won't let you get away with them for free, either." Mirabelle added as Patina nodded in acknowledgement. "Please take care, and come back soon." Reanne told them. The trio waved to them, then they, along with their team, walked out of the shop, with Lightning, Snow and Vaan in tow.

**Chapter 7: Flying to the Next Adventure**

The team made their way back to the hangar, saying hi to Serah and Mog along the way. Once they got there, they entered in to see their Gummi ship, fully restored. Sazh was placing a wrench down on the table, wiping the sweat off of his forehead. Penelo was sitting down near him, sighing in relief that their job was over. Hope stood right next to her, not as tired as the two. The little boy, who was called Dahj, was giggling as he watched the little baby bird fly around him.

"We're back!" Sora stated enthusiastically. "And just in time, too." Sazh responded, patting the ship, "It's up and ready to go. The engine has been updated, too. I don't know what kind of fuel you were usin' for this rig, but it sure was odd." "The ship runs on smiles." Goofy answered. "Heh, not anymore it doesn't." Sazh corrected him, walking around the ship, "This baby now runs faster, smoother, and provides more power to those tough problems you're gonna deal with out there, like Heartless and Unversed. I even added a few more installments that you should be able to use later on."

"We even got to talk to somebody on your computer." Penelo added, standing up, "We saw your chipmunk engineers, your king, Mickey, and that Akihiko Kayaba. They seemed pretty nice." "I still can't get over that this ship really WAS built by chipmunks." Sazh muttered, sitting down. "Hey, that's not the weirdest thing we've seen." Kirito pointed out, "And I'm sure we'll be seeing even weirder stuff than before once we travel to different worlds."

"Speaking of which, are there any gates blocking our path to the other worlds in this dimension?" Asuna asked them. "There are." Hope answered, smiling a bit, "But with your ship and powers, you should be able to open them up. All you have to do is go through each gate, find the keyhole to it, and open up the access point towards it. Some of the keyholes can't be reached by your ship, however. Which is why at certain times, one of your team must dive out of the ship to the keyhole."

"Wait, dive out of the ship?!" Kirito repeated, shocked, "You mean we have to jump out into outer space and hope our bodies won't be destroyed from the atmosphere? And do we even get back to the ship?" "Don't worry. You won't have to deal with suffocation while in the gateway." Hope assured them, "As for how you get in and out of the ship, Sazh added a trapdoor underneath the ship that allows one of you to dive out. Once you unlocked the gate, you can call them back via teleportation thanks to the ship."

"Understood." Kirito replied as Donald, Goofy and Yui got up on the ship and into the cockpit. "I even provided some information of what you should expect from the worlds onto your computer." Hope added. "Thanks a bunch." replied Kirito, walking up to him and shaking hands with him.

Kirito, Asuna and Sora looked at the people they met in this worlds standing all around them. "Thanks for providing so much help for us!" Asuna thanked them. "We'll be back sometime if we need anything." Sora added, "Either that or just to hang out." "You take care of yourselves out there." Sazh told them. "Bye for now!" Penelo waved to them. "I hope you have a safe journey." said Hope. "Make sure to come back soon!" Vaan told them, "You guys are pretty cool to hang around with." "If you need a hero's help, you know where I'm at." Snow assured them. "Take care. Please, save our worlds from the Heartless and Unversed." Lightning asked. "No problem!" replied the three Keyblade wielders in unison.

_(Cue Sora's Theme)_

The three turned and ran to the ship. The climbed into the cockpit of the ship as Yui started it up. Sazh walked over and pulled down a lever, opening up the roof of the hanger so the ship could fly out of it. The Gummi ship rose through the hole and above it, finally taking off into the night sky. Everyone on the ground just stared as they watched them go.

Once the Gummi ship left the atmosphere, they slowed down until they came to a halt. "Finally, we can press on." Asuna sighed in relief. "Hey, it's not like that world wasn't too much trouble." Kirito told her, "But yeah, I'm glad the Gummi ship is up and running again." "Yui, lets go to the next world!" Sora declared. "You got it!" Yui replied, looking up at the space map on the monitor and setting the coordinates in for the first gateway, "Let's go!" And with that, the Gummi ship rocketed itself towards their next destination; the next new world.

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**And so we head off to the next world! I hope I was able to get the characters right. I'm thinking maybe I should've given Hope a little more emotion, but I'll do better next time.**

**As for the Soul Drive Form, doesn't that new power sound cool? I have a few ideas as to who gets what Soul Drive, so don't give me ideas as to who gets what, okay? I'm doing that part! I'll be sure to provide their new looks they gained here to my Deviant Arts page really soon. I'm hoping by the end of the weekend!**

**Anyways, write a review, tell your friends, and be patient for the next chapter.**

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**Next time on SAKII...**

**Kirito: What's with ****those two talking cats? And how are those two girls able to transform?!**

**Goofy: Gawrsh, that white kitten is so trustworthy!**

**Asuna: I can't say the same for that purple one.**

**Donald: Wah! She tricked us!**

**Sora: Quick, after that cat!**

**On the next Sword Art Kingdom II Dimensional Bonds: Kanon Town! Trusting Friendships & Pretty Cures!**

**Sora, Kirito & Asuna: Let's unlock the path to our bonded hearts!**


	3. Jiminy's Journal: Yusnaan

**Here are the character profiles for Yusnaan**

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Lightning

Origin: Final Fantasy XIII

_A swordswoman who wields a gunblade called the Blazefire Saber. Her real name is Claire Farron. She escaped to Yusnaan when her world was raided by the Heartless. She now wanders the city, protecting the remaining civilians that remain. She knows about the Keyblade and the Heartless from Hope Estheim, and she strives to those with the Keyblade in order to stop the Heartless and reclaim her world. Calm and collected, Lightning shares a sort of personality like Leon in Radiant Garden._

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Snow Villers

Origin: Final Fantasy XIII

_A hot-headed young man who uses fist fighting in his combat. He escaped to Yusnaan when his world was raided by the Heartless. He claims to be a hero, and strives to protect the town from any Heartless that tries to attack. __He is Serah's __fiancé, though he said that he wouldn't wed until their world was back to normal, so he aids those who wield the Keyblade. _While he enjoys a battle, he is also easy-going and optimistic, trying to get along with everybody.

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Vaan

Origin: Final Fantasy XII

_ A boy who wields a sword, and is an assistant mechanic to Sahz's __airship repair shop. He escaped to Yusnaan when Heartless invaded his world and took it over. He claims to be a sky pirate, and he is always interested in a little adventure. He aided Sora, Kirito, Asuna and friends in repairing their ship and giving them power. While naive and reckless, Vaan has developed a leadership role, and is serious on taking out Heartless that try attacking the city._

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Sazh Katzroy

Origin: Final Fantasy XIII

_A middle aged man who works as an airship repairman. He escaped to Yusnaan when his world was raided by Heartless. He repaired the damaged Gummi Ship when it crashed-landed into Yusnaan. Despite his age, he's youthful, carefree and lively._

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Penelo

Origin: Final Fantasy XII

_A young girl and Vaan's childhood friend. She escaped to Yusnaan when Heartless invaded her world and took it over. She is now an assistant mechanic to Sazh's airship repair shop. Since she is Vaan's closest friend, she acts as his 'careful side'._

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Hope Estheim

Origin: Final Fantasy XIII

_A young boy with great skills with computer. He escaped to Yusnaan when his world was raided by Heartless. He knew about the Keyblade shortly after arriving in the world. He helped out Sora, Kirito, Asuna and friends in giving them information about the other worlds and enemies, which were added to their ship's computer. He is curious, and has control over his emotions, giving off a calm demeanor._

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Serah Farron

Origin: Final Fantasy XIII

_Lightning's younger sister. She escaped to Yusnaan when her world was raided by the Heartless. With her pet Moogle, Mog, she now runs an accessory shop in Yusnaan. She is bright and cheerful, and cares a lot for her sister's well being._

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Witch Patina

Origin: Ojamajo Doremi/Magical Doremi

_A magical frog who owns the DoReMi magic shop. She brought her business to Yusnaan when her world was invaded by the Heartless. She helped Sora, Kirito and Asuna out by granting them the power of Soul Drive. She is very stubborn, and cares more for money than anything else._

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Dori Goodwin

Origin: Ojamajo Doremi/Magical Doremi

_A Witch apprentice to Patina. She was sent to Yusnaan after her world was invaded by the Heartless. She helps run the DoReMi magic shop. She is a kind, helpful girl, but a complete klutz._

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Reanne Griffin

Origin: Ojamajo Doremi/Magical Doremi

_A Witch apprentice to Patina. She was sent to Yusnaan after her world was invaded by the Heartless. She helps run the DoReMi magic shop. She is very shy, but incredibly smart and kind._

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Mirabelle Haywood

Origin: Ojamajo Doremi/Magical Doremi

_A Witch apprentice to Patina. She was sent to Yusnaan after her world was invaded by the Heartless. She helps run the DoReMi magic shop. She is tomboyish and hot-headed, though useful and kind._


	4. Kanon Town! Pretty Cure Friendships!

**Sorry it took so long to upload the next episode. Last week was college midterms, so I had little time to do stories. It's spring break now, so I've got plenty of time. Note: The story is not completely the same as Ep. 20-21 of Suite Precure, so they have been modified for SAK II storyline. Anyways, read and enjoy the story!**

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_(I do not own Kingdom Hearts or Sword Art Online. All I do is form my imagination from both stories, and share it with the world!)_

**Prologue**

In the castle of Minor Land, Mephisto was sitting upon his throne, staring at the two people before him; Maleficent and Pete. "The Heartless?" questioned Mephisto, "And you say they can bring about eternal darkness from people's hearts?" "Indeed." Maleficent replied, "And they are more than capable of being controlled by a man filled with darkness such as yourself. All you have to do is find me the Key of Discord from this world, and you shall join our conquest to plunge all the worlds into darkness!"

Mephisto started to scratch his chin, intrigued by the thought. "These Heartless sound almost as powerful as the Melody of Sorrow." he compared, "With those two powers, no one, not even the Pretty Cure, can be able to stop me." Mephitso started to laugh at the idea.

"So, uh, what's the deal with this 'Melody of Sorrow'?" Pete asked. "You shall know soon enough." Mephisto replied, "I've just sent my songstress to fetch all the notes that will complete it." He lifted up a decorated book in one hand. "Once Siren places the notes into the Legendary Score and sings the song within its' pages, it shall bring about a world without happiness and hope for anyone. A world full of nothing but eternal despair!" Mephisto barked with laughter once more.

"A very useful weapon indeed." Maleficent agreed with him, "Then we shall help you in creating this melody of yours. But be warned; there are those who will attempt to get in your way; three wielders of the Keyblade and their lackeys. They might even impede your plans." "Bah! Whoever these wielders are, they are no match for my subordinates. Minor Trio!" Three men appeared before Mephisto; the Minor Trio's Bassdrum, Baritone and Falsetto. "Yes, Your Majesty!" they sung in unison and out of key. "Go forth and stop all that impede in my path!" Mephisto declared. "As you wish!" they sung once more, and they disappeared from view. Mephisto made an evil grin as he saw his plan in motion.

_(Cue 'New World' by Twill')_

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**Chapter 1: Tale of Two Kitties**

The Gummi ship was on autopilot as it was speeding through space, without a problem. The six heroes were either talking to one another or, in Yui's case, keeping an eye on the ship's path. After a couple hours, the team found themselves nearing one of the special gates. The Gummi ship slowly came to a halt before it.

"So what should we expect if we go through there?" Kirito asked with caution. "We'll never know until we find out." Sora answered in a carefree tone. He was right, there was no denying it. "Full speed ahead!" Goofy proclaimed. "Roger!" Donald shouted, steering the ship into the gate.

The obstacles they had to go through in this area were a lot like the ones in Sora's dimension; flying around a different atmosphere, which looked like floating islands with disheveled buildings on top of them, and large musical notes were displayed in the misty skies. Not only that, but a ton of Heartless and Unversed impeded in their path, trying to stop them. Luckily, they blasted them out of the way with the ship's blaster, which was a lot stronger than before thanks to Sazh.

They found the Keyhole, and unlocked the gateway out, slowing to a halt as they saw the new world before them. "So this is the next world in your dimension." Sora stated, pressing his face against the window. "Wow, it looks so much like our real world back home." Asuna pointed out as she was pressed into the window by Donald and Sora. "Yui, can you tell us something about this world?" Kirito asked. Yui tapped away at the computer, pulling up the new info that Hope had installed into the computer. "Seems like this world is set in Japan. Location; Kanon Town."

"Wait, we're back home?" Kirito asked. "No." Yui answered, "This is a different Earth world compared to papa's and mama's world. In the town we are going to, there are 'legendary warriors' who are trying to protect the happiness in this world." "Legendary warriors?" Sora asked, looking eagerly at Yui, "Who are they? What're they like?" "It doesn't say…" Yui replied, looking at the computer.

"Oh…oh well. We'll just have to go down there and see for ourselves, won't we?" said Sora, rushing over to the transporter, "C'mon, get us down there!" "Sora, remember; we're not here to just have fun." Kirito told him, "We need to make sure that this world is safe from the Heartless and Unversed, okay?" Sora nodded understandably. Kirito did know that when it came to the Heartless, he was serious about taking them out. But that didn't stop him from being a total goof-ball. Regardless, they got onto the transporter with him as Yui locked in the coordinates. Once placed in, she ran over to the crew as the transporter activated, and the team was sent down to the surface.

They got down to the surface, where they found themselves in a shopping district at the top level. They looked over the guardrail, and saw that the sidewalk from down below was made to look like piano keys. The ocean was right by them, and the sun was glistening upon the ocean.

"Not a bad place." Asuna stated, her hair blowing in the breeze. "It feels like the Heartless hasn't caused that much damage to this place yet." Sora said, observing the location. Donald hoisted himself up over the guardrail as Goofy and Yui went beside him, feeling the breeze as the wind rushed passed them. Kirito leaned on the bars, turning to the town. It looked like a very nice town. He could clearly see a large clock tower off in the distance. There were some people walking about, a few of them were displaying their musical talents. _This place does feel like home…_ he thought to himself.

Just then, they heard two high-pitched cries coming from the inner part of the town. "What was that?" Yui asked, spinning around towards the noise. "Trouble." Kirito answered, and with that, the team rushed towards where it was coming from.

The team dashed into the town, ready to take on any new enemies. As soon as they found their way to a park, where they saw a group of Heartless surrounding two cats. One was small, young and white with pink ears, a pink collar with gold heart tag, and heart-shaped markings on her forehead. Next to her was an older-looking cat, with dark purple fur and a lavender mane around her neck. Like the kitten, she had a pink heart on her forehead. She also had several gold bands tied around her legs and tail. She also had an odd-looking pendant around her neck.

"We were right!" Kirito acknowledged as they rushed into the scene. They got into the center of the Heartless, surrounding the two cats. "We'll take care of these things!" Sora told the cats. The Heartless, to Yui's examination, were composed of Shadows, Crescendos and Blue Rhapsodies. It was recommended by Yui that the Crescendos should be taken out first since they have the power to heal its' allies. So while Kirito, Sora and Goofy used their physical prowess to take them down, Asuna, Yui and Donald all proceeded with attacking the Shadows and Blue Rhapsodies. It took a couple minutes, but they cleared them out.

After the fight was over, they turned to the two cats. "There you go. You're safe now." Asuna told them. "Nya! Thank you for saving us, nya!" said the little kitten. Asuna, Kirito and the purple cat all looked at her with shock! "Hummy! What are you thinking? You can't just talk to any human!" barked the purple cat. It took a second before the cat named Hummy realized what it just did, and covered its' mouth. "Oops!" it gasped, quickly getting on all fours again, "I mean…nya! nya! I'm just a normal cat, nya!" "It's too late for that!" shouted the purple cat.

"So you two cats can talk?" Asuna asked, kneeling down to them with Sora. The purple cat looked at the person before her with a stern expression, then sighed, "I guess there's no point in hiding it. Then again…" she looked at the crew, "…you don't seem to be the normal kind of people." "I'm Sora." he introduced himself, "This is Kirito, Asuna, Donald, Goofy and Yui."

"I'm Hummy, nya!" greeted the white kitten, "And this is my best friend, Siren! We're best friends, and Fairies of Song from Major Land, nya!" "You didn't have to tell them everything about us…" Siren sweat-dropped at her. "Geez, talk about an airhead." muttered Kirito. "Oh, thank you, nya!" Hummy thanked her. "That wasn't a compliment!" barked Kirito and Siren.

"So, uh, why were the Heartless attackin' ya?" Goofy asked the two cats. "Heartless?" questioned Siren, looking at the spot where the Heartless were at, "So that's what they were." "I have no idea, nya!" Hummy answered. All but Kirito was watching Hummy, while Kirito looked to Siren. Was it just his imagination, or did he just see the cat make a sly grin?

"Those Heartless must've been attracted to you for a reason." Asuna assumed. "Well, they are attracted to hearts filled with light." Sora recalled, looking at the two cats, "Maybe one or both of you have a heart filled with light." "What do you mean hearts filled with light?" questioned Siren. "He means there good in you." Asuna answered. The black cat looked to one side, puzzled.

"Then we both must've been targeted, nya!" Hummy stated, "We both are good fairies of song, nya!" "Not me…" Siren retorted, turning her back to them, "I'm your enemy, Hummy. There's no good in me." The others looked to one another. Kirito was more concern about her facial expressions, which he could barely see since with her back turned to them. "But you have good in you, nya!" Hummy said sympathetically, "Your my best friend, Siren! Always have and always will be, nya!" Siren looked to her, then to the others, then hid her face from them. Kirito noticed a small smirk, and not the sweet kind.

"Why don't we go somewhere where the Heartless won't get to you?" Sora suggested. "Good idea!" Donald agreed. "I know of a nice, hidden area, nya!" Hummy told the group as Siren grabbed a blue bag from the ground near them and hoisted it onto her back, "Follow me, nya." And with that, Hummy ran off, with Siren and everyone else on their heels.

Hey, Yui, Donald." Kirito ushered in the two nearest to him as they ran. "What is it?" Donald asked. "I need you two to keep an eye on that Siren cat." Kirito whispered to them, looking at the back of the cat, "Something about her doesn't seem right. We should watch out for anything strange about her."

"But what about mama, Sora and Goofy?" Yui asked, "Should we tell them?" "No. We should keep this between us." Kirito answered, "If we keep an eye on her too much, she'll catch on. Besides, Goofy's too optimistic, and Sora and Asuna trust them. Let them go on with that. Now promise you won't tell them." "Promise!" Donald and Yui replied. "Hurry up, you guys!" Asuna shouted, only making them realize they were falling behind. "Coming!" Yui shouted, and the trio caught up with the group.

* * *

**Chapter 2: Gathering Notes**

Getting through the town was a bit complex, but Hummy knew the way around. However, the Heartless still kept coming at them. The six team members did their best to protect the two cats from the Heartless swarms. However, the cats were able to fend for themselves a bit. Hummy was a able to clap out a heart-shaped beam that could paralyze the Heartless. Siren produced purple notes of energy that exploded at the Heartless.

After traversing the town, they found themselves in a forest part of the city. Hummy led them to a flat, shaded part of a hill, which was well hidden for the cats. They had time to catch their breath with no Heartless around, so everyone stood or sat around. "No one will find us here, nya!" Hummy stated, turning to Siren, "You rest up for now, nya." "Thanks." Siren bowed her head to her. "Hummy hasn't heard that in a while, nya!" said Hummy, dancing a bit on her hind legs.

"So why do you say that you're an enemy to Hummy?" Kirito asked Siren. "I was the songstress of Minor Land, under the leadership of Mephisto." Siren explained, "It was my duty to gather all of the notes in order to form the Melody of Sorrow." "Melody of Sorrow?" Donald echoed. "What's that?" Goofy asked. "It is just what it is; a song that brings sorrow and misery to everyone throughout the world." Siren answered. "That's horrible!" gasped Yui, "Why would you want to sing a song like that?" Siren looked away, shading her eyes to the group. The absence of an answer made Kirito even more suspicious.

"It doesn't matter, nya!" Hummy stated, "Siren said that she got kicked out by Mephisto because she couldn't find enough notes for the song." "Enough notes?" Asuna echoed. "Like these." said Siren, revealing a note from who-knows-where, "I'm guessing you can't see it, since normal humans can't see them." "Then it's a good thing we aren't normal." Kirito stated as the group looked at the red quarter note with eyeballs in Siren's paw. Siren looked to them in surprise. _So these people can see the notes. _Siren thought to herself, _Very interesting._

"Hey, I heard there were some 'legendary heroes' here!" Sora stated eagerly, "Do you know who they are, or where we can find them?" "Oh, the Pretty Cure, nya!" Hummy answered, "I'm good friends with them, nya!" "Pretty Cure?" Asuna echoed. Kirito couldn't help but notice the slight snarl from Siren. "Yeah! They help me gather the notes so that I can sing the Melody of Happiness, nya!" Hummy explained.

"I'm guessing that this Melody of Happiness brings joyful feelings as the name goes." Yui assumed. "You got it, nya!" Hummy answered eagerly, "And it would be my dream if Siren would sing the Melody of Happiness with me once it is complete, nya!"

"You really don't mind, Hummy?" Siren asked, "You are the next songstress in line to sing it." "But you're my best friend, nya!" Siren retorted, "I would really want you to sing it with me!" Siren paused for a second before answering, "Very well then, I shall sing it with you once it's complete. I also want to stop all of my wrongdoings, and I want us to be friends again."

Hummy looked shocked for a few seconds, her mouth open wide. "St-Stop making that expression! It's embarrassing!" stammered Siren. "Are you okay?" Sora asked as Goofy tapped her shoulder. Finally, Hummy pounced on Siren eagerly, giving her a great big hug. "I'm so happy, nya!" she said eagerly, "I haven't been this happy in a long, long time, nya!"

Everyone watched as the two friends hugged one another. Sora, Donald and Goofy were happily looking from them to each other. Asuna and Yui smiled softly at the scene. Kirito smirked at this moment, but he couldn't help but watch Siren all this time. _Hummy sure does cherish this friendship for Siren. But I hope it doesn't backfire on her._ He thought to himself. He recalled a long time ago when an enemy in one other world, the parrot Iago, wanted to turn over a new leaf, though it took some time and actions to gain everyone's trust. Kirito hoped that this was the same thing, though he could not shake the feeling that the purple cat had an ulterior motive.

"We should practice our chords then, nya!" Hummy told Siren, taking a few steps back and sitting down. She then started to sing a small melody rather loudly. It was a little off-key, but her happiness could be felt from her singing. "Keep it down, Hummy!" Siren whispered to her. "I can't help it, nya! I'm too happy, nya!" Hummy replied, and she sung the same melody again.

"Now it's your turn, nya!" Hummy told Siren, "In fact, why don't everyone sing, nya!" "Us, too?" Asuna asked quizzically. "It's much better when friends sing together, nya!" Hummy stated. "That's true." Sora agreed, looking to Donald and Goofy, and they sung a bit of that same chord as well. They looked to Asuna, Yui and Kirito. Asuna and Yui looked to one another, and they sung the same chord as the others, though a bit more prettier than Sora's group. Kirito looked away, blushing. Asuna's voice was pretty, but he wasn't interested in singing with her.

"Come on, Siren, nya. You sing too, nya." said Hummy. Siren smiled for a second, then she too sung the same notes as everyone else. Her voice was definitely the best tone out of all of them. While everyone was looking admirably at Siren singing, Yui felt something in her voice that was off. A dark malice of some sort. It was faint but it was still there. She looked at Siren, who was being complimented by Sora and Asuna, with suspicion. Kirito saw Yui's expression.

"…Actually, I have a request." Siren asked Hummy and the others. "What is it, nya?" Hummy asked. Siren pulled out a small jar, and it was filled with a bunch of notes. "I want to make our wish come true, Hummy." said Siren, "Let's combine the notes we have to create the Melody of Happiness."

"Of course, nya!" Hummy answered eagerly, then she realized something, "But…I don't think combining them will be enough." "I'm sure if we sing the Melody of Happiness, we can gather more notes then. They are attracted to the song." "I get it! You're so smart. Siren!" Hummy stated eagerly.

"Mind if we help?" Sora asked, "We can help gather some notes so you can sing the Melody of Happiness." "Yeah!" Donald agreed, "I want to hear the song!" "Me, too." Asuna added. "Sure. If you find any new notes, please bring them here." Siren told them. "I know the Fairy Tones have all of the notes me and my friends collected, nya." Hummy remembered, "I'll go get them and bring them here, nya!"

"Just don't tell the Pretty Cures about what we're gonna do." Siren told them. "Why?" Kirito asked suspiciously. "We're the only ones who could see the notes. They can't see them, but if things look troublesome, we can call them. Okay, Hummy?" "I understand, nya." Hummy answered. Kirito and Yui looked to one another. It sounded like she didn't want anyone else intruding into whatever plot she was thinking of. Asuna saw the two's troublesome expressions, and wondered what they were thinking of.

"I'll go get the Fairy Tones now, nya!" stated Hummy. "We'll come too." Goofy told them. "No. This is an earth world, so Donald and Goofy would stick out too much. Let me stay here with Siren and the guys. Sora, Asuna, Yui, you go with Hummy." "Sounds like a plan." Sora agreed. Siren sneered a bit as her eyes looked to Kirito. She felt he was suspecting her, and she was right.

"Kirito, are you alright?" Asuna asked her boyfriend. "I'm fine." Kirito whispered to her, "I'm just taking extra precautions, that's all." Asuna was confused, but kind of realized what he was doing. "Come on, Asuna!" Sora called out, "Hummy's already getting away!" "R-Right!" Asuna replied, and she, Sora and Yui all followed Hummy out of the forest, leaving Kirito, Donald, Goofy and Siren to watch them go.

Sora's team came back into town, and started running along the road above the shoreline. Hummy was eagerly bouncing along the path, singing the same tune over and over, though was having a hard time finishing it while she was laughing. Some Heartless did get in their way, but it did not falter Hummy's happiness nor the team's stamina. "Hehe. Hummy's quite happy about this!" Sora noticed, "I can't wait to hear the song, too. Let's pick up the pace!" Sora started to run even faster, going along side Hummy.

"Yui, I couldn't help but see you and Kirito's expressions before." Asuna told Yui, "Was there something you two aren't telling us?" Yui was worried if she should answer, so instead she replied, "It's only suspicion, but we think maybe Siren has an alternate motive to using the notes. Something dark."

"You…think so, too?" Asuna asked. Yui looked to Asuna, surprised. "You think she's hiding something as well, mama?" she asked. Asuna looked on ahead to Sora and Hummy. "I can't help but feel that cat is not as nice as she claims to be. She wants those notes for something else. For what, I don't know."

"Then…" Yui started. "But we can't let the others know about our suspicion." Asuna continued, knowing what Yui was gonna say, "And just look at Hummy; she care a lot for Siren. She has so much faith in their friendship, and we just met the two. We can't break Hummy's heart for something like that."

"I guess you're right." Yui agreed, "But what about Sora and the others? We try convincing Donald, but I don't think he believes us anymore." "Sora's on the same line as Hummy." Asuna stated, "He believes in Hummy, and thinks Siren is a good person, or cat. His hearts in the right place. So lets have faith in them, and cross that bridge when the time comes." Yui looked to Asuna considerately, and decided to trust her judgement.

They arrived in another open area of the city, where they saw a bunch more Heartless here. The team went to work on taking them out the crowd before they caused any more trouble. Once they placed their Keyblades away, the team heard some sounds and looked to where they were. A couple of notes were nearby. "Nya! It's some free notes, nya!" Hummy stated eagerly.

"We can catch them." Sora told Hummy, "We'll catch them and bring them to Siren." "Good idea, nya." Hummy agreed, "I'll go to Hibiki's house to get the Fairy Tones, and bring them to Siren, nya!" And with that, Hummy bounded off, racing towards her destination. "So how do you plan on getting the notes?" Asuna asked Sora. Sora paused for a second, thinking on Asuna's question.

He looked down and saw an empty milk bottle. "I know! We can put them in this!" Sora answered, picking up the bottle and showing it to the girls, "We can keep them in here until we bring them to Hummy, Siren and the others." "That'll work." Yui agreed. "Let's catch those notes!" Asuna declared, and the trio split up.

* * *

**Chapter 3: Legendary Warriors: Pretty Cure!**

For the next several minutes, the trio ran all over the place, catching as many notes as they could. They found other things like potions, ether and mythril shards. They also found a few straggling Heartless that scared off the notes they tried gathering, so each team had to deal with taking them down before catching the notes.

Whenever they caught about two or three notes, they dropped them back in the milk bottle, which they placed in the center of the area, before getting more notes. They found a cap to seal the notes in so they wouldn't escape. When they cleaned up all the notes, they found the team gathered twenty-five of them.

"Nice haul!" Sora cheered. "This will make Hummy happy for sure." Yui added. "Now let's go find Hummy and show her how many we got." Asuna stated. "Wait, did you say 'Hummy'?" asked a girl's voice from behind. The trio turned and saw two girls around Sora's age near them. They were tall for their age, and each of them had heart-shaped markings on their shirts.

The first girl had waist length, hazel-orange hair like Asuna's, though parts of hers was tied up in twin tails on top with pink ribbons, and she also had blue eyes. She had a pink top over a black dress underneath, a magenta skirt, dark blue leggings, and white and pink sport shoes.

The second girl had bronze yellow-colored hair that wasn't as long, and part of it was tied in a high ponytail with a hair tie with pink beads. Her eyes were dark green. She had a white shirt with puffy sleeves, a pink layered skirt, and thigh-high white and pink shoes.

They were walking over to the trio, who were a bit nervous. "How do you guys know about Hummy?" asked the orange haired girl. "She's our friend." Sora answered, "We just met her, and she's a really nice cat. So is Siren." "Hold on; you mean you know about Siren as well?" asked the bronze haired girl nervously. "Sure. We were talking with them just a little while ago." Sora answered. "Sora!" shouted Asuna and Yui. He just flat-out said that they knew that the two cats could speak.

"This isn't good." the bronze haired girl said to her friend, "If Siren was with Hummy, then that means she's tricking her again." "Tricking her?" Sora asked, confused. Asuna and Yui looked to each other, confirming their beliefs on Siren. "Where's Hummy and Siren?" asked the orange haired girl. "Siren's in the forest park with our friends." Asuna answered, "Hummy said she was going to a house that belonged to a girl named Hibiki."

"That's me!" the orange haired girl answered, "But why's she going to my house?" "She said to get the Fairy Tones, whatever they were." Yui answered. "Oh, no…" Hibiki gasped, "I need to get back there and find Hummy!" She and her friend ran past the trio towards the same path Hummy went before. "Wait up!" shouted Sora shouted as he, Asuna and Yui followed them.

They ran along the streets together. Sora introduced himself and the group, and Hibiki introduced herself and her friend, Kanade. They were close friends to Hummy. "So does that mean that you two know about these Pretty Cure she talked about?" asked Sora as they ran. "Eh?! She told you that as well?" Hibiki asked exasperatedly, "Jeez, why would she tell you so much?" "She trusts us, that's all." Asuna answered, "That cats quite an airhead, but she is really kind." "That's Hummy for you." Kanade agreed with an embarrassed smile.

After a while, they found their way to Hibiki's house. They ran inside, up the stairs, and into Hibiki's room. Siren was nowhere to be seen. "Hummy! Where are you, Hummy?!" Hibiki asked, searching all around the room, "She's not here. And neither are the Fairy Tones." "Wait! Hummy said she was heading back to where the others were at!" Yui realized. "Then lets go back there." Sora answered.

They rushed out of the house, only to find their path impeded by a bunch of Heartless. "Wha…What are these things?!" gasped Hibiki and Kanade in unison. "The Heartless!" said Asuna. "And a lot more of them, too." Sora added as he, Asuna and Yui all pulled out their weapons. "We can deal with them!" Yui stated, turning to the two girls behind them, "Just stay back!"

Hibiki and Kanade looked at the three in front of them, not sure if they should flee or help. Just then, two small cries came from the sky, and the two turned to see two gem-like figures, one pink and one white. "Dori!" Hibiki called out. "Reri!" Kanade followed. They each flew down to the one who called them. "We have all the notes, dodo." Dori stated. "We snuck away from Hummy so Siren wouldn't have them, rere." Reri followed.

The two girls looked relieved to hear that, then they looked serious. "Kanade, let's go!" Hibiki told her friend. "You got it!" she responded. Sora, Asuna and Yui looked behind them to see the two girls pull out some sort of heart-shaped device. The two Fairy Tones flew up into the sky, flashed softly, then fell into the top slots of the device. "_Let's Play! Precure Modulation!_" chanted the two girls harmoniously. They tapped the bottoms of their devices, and there was a bright light that blinded the others.

When the light disappeared, Sora, Asuna and Yui were shocked to see that the two had changed drastically. The hair, the uniform, even their eye color had changed. Both had frilly uniforms, complete with chokers, arm guards and ribbons. Both of their devices were on their chest now. Hibiki's attire was hot pink with white outlines and a midriff. Her hair was long and pink, in two long twin tails, held by braids and a ribbon. Kanade had a white and pink outline uniform, and her hair was now platinum blonde, held in a long, curly ponytail, and held by braids and a ribbon as well.

"Woah!" gasped the trio. "_Strumming to the Wild Rhythm! Cure Melody!_" Hibiki cried, striking a pose. "_Strumming to the Tranquil Melody! Cure Rhythm!_" Kanade cried, also striking a pose. "_Resonate! Our Musical Symphony! Suite Precure!_" shouted the two in unison.

Sora's eyes started to glitter a bit. "Wow! So you guys are the Pretty Cures?!" "Amazing. They've become a completely different person now!" Asuna stated. The two newly transformed girls walked into the group, facing the Heartless. "NOW we can help out." Melody stated, getting into fighting position. "You don't mind, do you?" Rhythm asked, mirroring Melody's position. Sora, Asuna and Yui smirked, which meant yes, before getting into battle position themselves.

The five of them fought off against all of the Heartless strongly. The Heartless were composed of the same group as before, only now adding Red Nocturnes, Yellow Operas, and Big Bodies. The two girls were definitely a great benefit to the battle. Their attacks were so much stronger than normal, and their movements were swift. They did plenty of tag-team moves together against one or two opponents, which was a lot stronger than either individually, such as the 'Harmony Shot', which was a blast of their combined energy.

The other three noticed this, and decided to pull off a few tag-team moves themselves. Yui somehow developed a new attack with her tessen called 'Whirlwind', magically casting a small tornado from her fan, sending all of the Heartless near it flying. With it, Sora and Asuna used that tornado to jump up to the airborne enemies, and started slashing and blasting at all of the Heartless, knocking them out with ease.

When they cleared up the enemies, Asuna looked to Melody and Rhythm, who looked to the trio. "You guys are really strong." she commended them. "Thanks. You're strong yourselves." Rhythm replied. "So what were those things doing here? And what's with those weapons?" Melody asked, pointing at Asuna's Lambent Light. "We can explain that later." Yui answered, "We need to get back to Hummy and the others." "Yui's right." Sora agreed, "C'mon! We'll show you where they are."

Sora and Asuna led the team down back the way they came. More Heartless started impeding in their path, but the five went to town on the swarm before proceeding ahead. "Looks like we ended up in something weird again." Melody stated. "Let's hope things don't get any weirder than what they are." Rhythm hoped. "If you say stuff like that, they will always come true." Asuna warned them as they continued on their pathway to Hummy's hiding spot.

"So why do you guys believe that Siren is tricking Hummy?" Yui asked them. "Because Siren has lied a lot to Hummy, only to betray her trust in the end." Rhythm answered. "She was saying that she wanted to quit being evil and start being friends again with Hummy." Sora recalled. "That was a lie. She has said that before." said Melody. "No way…" Sora sighed, looking down in a worried tone.

"So even though Hummy has been tricked by her constantly, she still considers Siren a friend?" Asuna asked, "Either she's more air headed than we thought, or she has a lot of faith in their friendship." "It's probably a bit of both." Melody replied, "Hummy's really nice, but she's an airhead and she trusts people too much. I mean, she even told you guys about us!" "Technically, she didn't say who was the Pretty Cures…" Yui mumbled. "I'm just hoping that this lie isn't a lie after all." Asuna stated, "I'd hate to see Hummy torn up about Siren betraying their friendship." Everyone looked ahead, hoping for the same things.

During the time the team made to Kanade's house, Kirito, Donald, Goofy and Siren were waiting around, not saying a word. Donald and Goofy were on lookout while Kirito was taking a nap next to Siren. The cat was looking at Kirito suspiciously. _Mephisto was right to warn me about these people. _She thought to herself, _These 'Keyblade wielders' could be a problem to me in my plans…_

"Look!" Donald shouted, pointing out something from the distance. Kirito woke up slightly as everyone saw Hummy running through the forest towards their position, with five strange floating gems following it. Each of them had a different color; orange, yellow, light blue, dark blue and green. "Siren! I brought them, nya!" shouted Hummy, running passed Donald and Goofy and up to where the dark cat and Kirito, who sat up, were at.

The Fairy Tones noticed Donald, Goofy and Kirito, and stopped to see them. Donald was intrigued on the fact that they looked like gems. Goofy was just curious about them. "So you guys are fairies?" Kirito asked as the orange and yellow Fairy Tones flew to him. He held out his hand, and the yellow one nested itself onto his palm.

"I had not doubted you for a second." Siren stated, looking to the note. "Where're the others?" Kirito asked Hummy. "They found some notes, so they're collecting them now, nya." Hummy replied, "They'll be here soon to add the notes to ours, nya!" "Gotcha." Kirito understood. "Now then, which one of them has the notes?" Siren asked, ignoring Kirito's question. Donald and Goofy walked up to the group as Hummy looked at the group of Fairy Tones.

"Nya? Dori and Reri are missing, nya." Hummy pointed out. Siren looked both surprised and concerned. "Dori and Reri went away with all of the notes, fafa." the yellow Fairy Tone explained to Hummy. "Eh?" Hummy responded. "Siren is too suspicious, mimi." the orange fairy added. "No way, nya!" Hummy whispered. _Looks like even the faires can't trust Siren._ Kirito thought.

Hummy looked anxiously at Siren. "What's wrong, Hummy?" she asked, "We should go gather up the notes so we can sing the Melody of Happiness." "O-Okay, nya." Hummy replied. "Dori and Reri are probably somewhere nearby." Siren assumed, "Let's go search for them." And with that, she bounded on ahead, with Donald right behind her. Goofy picked up the Siren's jar full of notes before following. "Wait for me, Siren, nya!" Hummy called out as Kirito stood up. Kirito started running after them, and Hummy decided to leap onto Kirito's head since he was faster. Kirito was startled at first, but he didn't care afterwards.

As they ran down the hill, Kirito whispered, "Hey, Hummy?" "Nya?" Hummy meowed. "I know this isn't right to say this, but I'm in agreement with the fairies." Kirito stated, surprising Hummy, "There's something about Siren I cannot trust. She may be fooling you."

"No. Siren is being honest, nya!" Hummy responded. "How do you know?" Kirito asked, looking up at the cat on his head. "Because I know she is, nya." Hummy replied, "I can trust her because she's my best friend, nya!" "Even so, I still can't trust her yet." Kirito stated.

"Then I'll show you, nya!" Hummy decided, "Siren is the Fairy of Song who will sing the Melody of Happiness with me, nya! Siren is my most precious, best friend, nya!" Kirito looked ahead, seeing Siren in front of Donald and Goofy as they ran. Kirito did recall back in Sora's dimension, at Beast's Castle. He misjudged the Beast, thinking he was an enemy of theirs. But Sora was firm on the fact that he was a good friend. It took some time, but he was convinced that Sora's trust in his friend was right. Kirito didn't want to make the same mistake like before, but he felt like now was different in a way. He left his mind undecided as he pursued after the black cat in front of them.

* * *

**Chapter 4: Vs. Jar Centipede**

After several minutes of running and fighting through the town, Sora, Asuna, Yui, Melody and Rhythm found themselves entering the forest park. "This way!" Asuna shouted, running up the hill through the trees. It was a bit of a climb, but they eventually made their way to Hummy's secret hideout.

When they arrived, they found the place deserted. Their friends had just upped and left the place. "This is the place…" Sora pointed out. "But where are the others?" Yui asked. "Maybe something scared them off." Rhythm guessed. "Not Kirito." Asuna replied, "He wouldn't be scared off that easily."

They thought for a second, then Melody figured, "Maybe Hummy came over, but realized all the notes were missing." "And I betcha Siren wants to find them again." Asuna followed her train of thought, "She's obsessed with finding those notes in order to sing that Melody of Sorrow she told us before." "Then we'd better hurry up and find them!" Sora declared, and the team raced down the hill, the same direction Kirito's group was heading.

Meanwhile, Kirito's team was making their way down the hill. While Siren was having no difficulty with the decent, the angle of the hill was difficult keeping up with her and maintaining their balance. Sure enough, when they made it down the hill, Siren landed gracefully, while Donald stumbled to the ground, followed by Goofy, then Kirito and Hummy, who fell to one side of them. Goofy held the jar out so it wouldn't break. The three of them got to their feet and shook off the dizzy feeling from collision.

"Found you!" sung a trio of male voices. From out of nowhere, three characters landed in a triangle formation around the group. They all wore the same purple robe-like cape, and long white collars. Each of them also had a theme color that showed on their suits and pants. The shortest one of the trio's theme was red, though he had pink, short, wavy hair. The second man's color was blue, and he had long, light-blue hair going down his back. The third man, who was the tallest, was green, with olive green hair and a large beard that stuck out.

"Ah, the Minor Trio." Siren stated, seeing them. "Who?" Goofy asked, holding the jar close to him. "Falsetto, Baritone and Bassdrum." Siren introduced, "They are servants to Mephisto." "You must be the group of enemies that dark witch warned us about." said the green-colored man name Bassdrum. "Dark witch?" Donald echoed. He, Donald and Kirito looked to one another before realizing, "Maleficent!" "That explains why the Heartless are here." said Kirito.

"Don't run, Seiren." Bassdrum warned the dark cat. "Give us those notes!" ordered the pink-haired man named Falsetto. He made a dive for Goofy, only to make him topple over and send the jar flying. Hummy leapt up on Goofy's hat and jumped after it, making a midair grab for the jar. She caught it and landed onto her feet. "No! These are our Notes, nya!" Hummy retorted.

"Those are OUR note!" shouted the blue-colored man named Baritone, pouncing at Hummy. She jumped backwards just in time, but she stumbled and fell upon landing. She looked up to see Kirito, Donald, Goofy, and Siren in front, protecting her. Hummy looked happy at all of the support, especially Siren.

"You're not giving them to us?" asked Bassdrum, "Very well then…" He waved his hand, and several other jars like the one they had appeared out of nowhere. They soared passed the startled group, and caused Hummy to drop the jar, only for it to be scooped up with the others. The team turned to see the jars form in a straight line, then they glowed a dark mist, hiding themselves from their view.

When the mist disappeared, they saw that the jars had grown three times in size, and that each of them had a pair of black legs. Not only that, it also had a dark blue tail and head attached to the back and front. The monster had two tails in the back. Its' head was insect-like, with a pair of antennas, yellow glowing eyes, a pair of black-tipped mandibles, and a Heartless emblem on its' forehead.

"They made a Heartless with the jar full of notes!" stated Kirito as he, Donald and Goofy pulled out their weapons. "That witch's powers are truly magnificent." praised Baritone. "Magnificent Maleficent!" Falsetto added in a high singing tone. "Go, Heartless! Wipe them all out!" ordered Bassdrum, waving his hand to the large beast. The beast raised it's body, looking down at the group. Hummy looked nervous while Siren was both startled that the Minor Trio were able to create such a beast, and intrigued.

"Guys!" shouted Sora's voice. Sora, Asuna, Yui, Melody and Rhythm made a jump from the hill and landed next to the team, their weapons and fists at the ready. Kirito was confused when he saw the two new girls. "Melody! Rhythm!" Hummy cried, "That thing has our precious note, nya! You have to get them back, nya!" "Okay!" Melody answered.

"Yui, analyze!" ordered Asuna. Yui's scanner activated, setting her sights on the Heartless. "Subject's name: Jar Centipede." Yui described, "It's power is enhanced thanks to the notes. Weakness: head and tail. Taking out the middle pieces will shorten its body." "Thanks." Kirito thanked her, "Now lets get it!"

The team charged at the Jar Centipede in front of them. Siren and Hummy ran to the side so as not to get in the way. The Centipede crawled at them, its' antennas starting to electrify. Donald and Goofy got shocked by the attack, but the others jumped over it.

Melody and Rhythm unleashed a double punch onto one jar while Kirito and Yui struck at another part of the body. Their attacks shattered two of the jars, causing it to shorten itself. However, as they landed, two more jars appeared, fitting themselves into the two empty slots. "It repaired itself!" Melody gasped. "It's not gonna be as easy as we thought." Kirito growled.

Meanwhile, Sora and Asuna attempted to strike the behind. They shocked it with Thunder at first, then came at it with a double Keyblade strike. The twin tails' tips started to glow, and it whipped the two backwards, damaging them. "This ain't good…" Sora moaned as he straightened himself. "I think we should try striking it individually." Asuna suggested, "I'll go in first. While I distract it, give it all you got!" "Right!" Sora agreed.

Asuna charged at the Heartless' backend again. The two tails shot out at Asuna, but she parried them. Both tails then tried wrapping themselves around the stem of the Keyblade, and she held on tight. "Now!" shouted Asuna. Sora leapt above her and unleashed a midair combo on the back, finishing with a strong slash. The damaged caused the Centipede to loosen its grip on Asuna's Keyblade. She knocked back the tails and leapt back before they could whip her again.

Kirito and Goofy were busy trying to get to the head, but its' electrical antenna were a bit of a chore to get around. Kirito already used up all of his magic power, and he needed some time before it could come back. "There's gotta be a way to hit it…" Kirito muttered. He noticed Donald, Yui, Melody and Rhythm trying to knock out the body pieces, and had a crazy idea.

"Melody! Punch one of those jars into the air for me, would ya?" shouted Kirito, running to the opposite side of the body to her. "Why?" Melody asked. "Don't worry. Just make sure you strike it at me!" Kirito told her. Melody looked somewhat confused, but she decided to trust him. She charged up a punch, and slammed it at one of the Heartless' jars. The jar broke loose, shooting itself towards Kirito. He readied his Keyblade, and like a baseball batter, struck the jar down at the head of the Centipede, damaging it. "Use its' body to take it out!" Kirito shouted, "That's how you beat it!" The others nodded, understanding what he meant.

"Donald!" shouted Rhythm, kicking one of the jars into the air. Yui produced a Whirlwind to send Donald yelling skyward. He readied his staff, and he struck the jar as hard as he could. The jar went down, but the attack was instead going to… "Goofy! Heads up!" Donald warned him. Goofy saw the jar coming his way. He hopped up and spiked the jar with his shield. The jar was sent directly at the Centipede's face. "Nice one!" Yui and Rhythm cheered. Goofy rubbed his nose, enjoying being complemented.

On and on, the battle ensued. They kept striking the head and tail with all the attacks they could muster. Its' jar pieces were not disappearing at first, but after using them as projectiles a lot, the jars were slowly disappearing. After a while, there were no jars left. With them gone, the Jar Centipede went on a rampage, striking the team with it's antennae and tails. The team kept getting hit, and it was hard for them to get in close.

On the sidelines, Hummy and Siren watched them go at it with the Heartless. "We have to help them, nya!" Hummy cried, "Siren, can't you stop that thing?" "I can't control that Heartless. It's beyond my powers." Siren answered woefully. "No way, nya…" Hummy sighed. "But maybe…" Siren continued, "I could try something else." "Siren!" cheered Hummy. "Since it's using the powers of the notes…" Siren started.

Siren concentrated, then her eyes flashed. "Notes! Break your harmony and fight with each other!" she shouted, and a dark red wave of energy shot itself at the Centipede. It struck it, and it stopped for a second. It then started to flail about, as if something was attacking on the inside.

"What's going on?" Kirito asked as the team watched it flail around. "Everyone! Finish it now, while you have the chance!" shouted Siren, drawing the attention to her. "Siren…" Melody whispered. She, Rhythm, Asuna and Sora turned to each other. "I think it's time for a Limit Break!" Asuna suggested. "A what now?" questioned Melody. "Just combine your strength with ours, and we can unleash it." Sora explained, "Trust us, okay?" Melody and Rhythm understood.

Asuna and Melody partnered up while Sora and Rhythm partnered up. Each Pretty Cure conjured up two notes, placed them together, and formed a rod-like weapon each. The orange and yellow Fairy Tones, Miri and Fari respectively, went into the slot on top of each rod; Miri into Melody's and Fari into Rhythm's.

"Here I come!" Asuna shouted, raising her Keyblade. "Miracle Belltier!" cried Melody, raising her rod. The two connected, and their Limit Break, 'Melody Vivace', activated.

"Let's go!" Sora shouted, raising his Keyblade. "Fantastic Belltier!" cried Rhythm, raising her rod. The two connected, and their Limit Break, 'Rhythm Allegro', activated.

The two pairs unleashed their combo of attacks on the Heartless; Asuna and Melody on the head, Sora and Rhythm on the tail. Asuna and Melody's combo was comprised of 'Tempo Rush', Asuna's shining jabs that caused pink, note-shaped energy to appear every time she struck, and 'Miracle Overflow', in which Melody shoots a series of orange, note-shaped energy shots from her rod, which explode on impact.

Meanwhile, Sora and Rhythm's combo was comprised of 'Medley Slash', Sora's multiple strikes that caused white note-shaped energy to appear every time he made contact, and 'Fantastic Burst', in which Rhythm shoots a round of yellow, note-shaped energy shots from her rod, exploding on impact.

Their final strike had the same name; 'Rondo Duet'. Each pair went back-to-back, their weapons outstretched in front of them. "_Fly Forth, Tone Ring!_" All four chanted, spinning around, forming a ring of energy each; Asuna and Melody's being pink and orange, Sora and Rhythm's being white and yellow. The rings flew above them as they raised their Keyblades and Belltiers high.

Each pair faced each body part of the Jar Centipede, their weapons stretched back. "_Precure…_" Melody and Rhythm started harmoniously. "_…Music Rondo Duet!_" shouted all four of them, slingshotting the Tone Rings at the body parts. The rings struck each body part, causing them to be in the center of the ring. "_3/4 beat! 1,2,3…_" the four chanted, waving their weapons like conductor batons before turning aways and shouting in unison, "_…Finale!_" The rings exploded, causing great damage to the Centipede.

When the explosion died down, the head and tail were now close together, and they were vanishing into black smoke. In their place, the jar full of notes appeared. Hummy appeared in front of the group. She meowed happily as she clapped her paws together, conjuring a heart-shaped energy ring. It struck the jar full of notes, and they flew their way into all seven Fairy Tones, who chimed happily as they went into them. The victory was theirs.

* * *

**Chapter 5: Believing in Friendships**

When all of the notes finally gathered into the Fairy Tones, the team saw that three more objects appeared from the jar as well; three Magic Orbs. "Those are the Cure Elements." Yui explained as the orbs flew to Sora, Kirito and Asuna. "Now we can use Cure again!" stated Asuna as the orbs went into each of them, "Finally… I was getting tired of using potions a lot."

Hummy gathered up all of the Fairy Tones and looked into each of their gem tops. "We gathered a lot of notes today, nya!" she said happily. "Here, add these to them as well." said Sora, revealing the milk bottle full of notes he, Asuna and Yui gathered before. He uncorked it and sent all of the notes into the Fairy Tones. "This is so exciting, nya!" cheered Hummy, "So many notes, nya! And now we have enough to start singing the Melody of Happiness, nya!"

Hummy pranced over to Siren with the Fairy Tones at hand. "Siren! Dori and Reri are now here, nya!" chimed Hummy, while the team watched the two cats nervously, "Thanks to you, we got a lot of Notes, nya!" Siren scooped up all of the Fairy Tones into her paws, looking at them slyly. She then looked to Hummy, and knocked her away, sending Hummy tumbling backwards.

"What was that for?!" Sora demanded. "Siren?" said Hummy. "I'm going back to Minor Land myself." Siren told her. "What d'ya mean, nya?" Hummy asked. "You still don't get it, do you?" Siren questioned her, her face turned menacing, "You've been fooled." Hummy looked stunned, unable to realize what just happened. "Is that so?" Bassdrum asked as the Minor Trio watched the scene.

"Wah! You tricked us!" Donald squawked angrily. "You dirty…!" growled Sora. "Siren!" barked Melody. The team was ready to go at her. "Don't you try!" hissed Siren, unveiling a couple claws and pointing them at the scared Fairy Tones, "Not unless you want to see what'll happen to the Fairy Tones." The team stopped, unable to go any further. Siren had them in a tight spot.

Siren chuckled softly as they stood there, then she leapt into the air. "Hummy, thank you so much for giving me the Fairy Tones." she thanked Hummy, "With this, the Melody of Sorrow should be ready to be sung!" Her laugh was audible as she leapt over the trees and out of sight, with the Minor Trio in pursuit of her. Hummy only stood there, watching them go. Melody and Rhythm glowed brightly, and they reverted back to being Hibiki and Kanade again. Hibiki fell to her knees.

"That was low!" barked Yui. "I can't believe she got away like that!" Sora growled, his fist curled. "The notes have been take by the people from Minor Land…" Kanade stated, looking up into the sky. "And they used Hummy's trust to get her way." Asuna said sympathetically. The team looked to Hummy, who was still frozen in her place, her back turned to them.

"Once they sing the Melody of Sorrow, will that mean the world will end?" Kanade asked. "There's gotta be a way to stop it!" said Kirito, looking to the crew. "But what can we do?" Goofy asked. The team looked to one another as Hibiki looked down, wondering.

"I believe in her, nya!" Hummy declared, causing everyone to looked at Hummy, surprised, "I…believe in Siren, nya!" "You still trust her?!" Kirito gasped, "Hummy, she tricked you! She said she's gonna sing the Melody of Sorrow!" "I still believe in her, nya!" Hummy replied, "Because I know she will come through, nya! She's my best friend, so she will come through, nya!"

"Hummy, how can you still consider her a friend?" Asuna asked, stepping forward, "She has just betrayed both your trust and your friendship. Do you really think she'll come through? Do you really consider her a friend after everything she put you through?" Hummy turned her head to Asuna. "I do!" Hummy stated firmly. She didn't end the statement with a meow this time. There was a look of absolute honesty and seriousness in her eyes that Asuna had not seen before. She was surprised. She could see that Hummy had absolute faith in Siren, and nothing was gonna deny that faith.

Hummy bounded off into the forest, going the same direction as Siren and the Minor Trio. "Hummy, where are you going!" Hibiki shouted, getting to her feet again and chasing after her. Everyone followed her as Asuna stood there, thinking about the look Hummy gave her. Kirito grabbed her arm and dragged her along. "Let's get going, Asuna!" he told her. "R-Right!" Asuna stammered, following the group.

The team tried catching up with Hummy, but by the time they got into town, Hummy had disappeared on them. "Where'd she go?" Goofy asked, looking about. "She's going after Siren. I'm sure of it!" Sora answered. "Let's head to the old cathedral." Hibiki suggested, "We need time to regroup, and that's the best place to be." They nodded in agreement, and ran towards where the cathedral was at.

Without the Fairy Tones, Hibiki and Kanade couldn't transform. So when the Heartless started attacking, they couldn't help out the others in battle. This wasn't too much of a problem for the group, since the six heroes were able to take them out without too much trouble. Plus, with their Cure spell back, healing up was much easier for them. However, that didn't stop the fact that the sky was starting to get gloomy, with dark rainclouds entering into the sky.

After a half hour of wandering the streets, the team arrived at the old cathedral. There were pieces of a stone wall that surrounded the building, with a stone archway in front of the entrance. The place looked rather worn from the outside. They walked into the place, and found themselves in a place that was fit for a church; rows of benches going down towards the central stage, which was surrounded by a pool of water. On stage was a black grand piano, and in the back was a massive organ that looked as if it was being repaired by someone.

They walked down the steps to the bottom row of benches. Asuna continued to walk forward, walking over the small bridge that led to the stage. While Hibiki, Kanade and Yui sat down, the others were looking around at the place, amazed at the sight. Kirito was pondering as he looked up at one of the decorated glass windows.

Unknown to them, they were being watched by an old man, who was standing behind a wall. He had blonde hair, a curly mustache and beard, and blue rimmed glasses. He wore a red vest, a white, long-sleeved shirt, brown slacks, and a aquamarine-colored pendant around his neck.

"So what's our next move?" he wondered out loud. "We gotta find a way to stop Siren from singing the Melody of Sorrow." Hibiki answered. "But that's gonna be tough." Kanade responded, "She has all of the Fairy Tones, along with all of our notes. It's gonna be hard to fight her in this state."

"We have to try something!" barked Sora, "We can't just let this go unchecked. We have to stop Minor Land from singing that song!" "So what do you have in mind?" Hibiki asked. Sora opened his mouth, but then paused, not sure on how to answer.

Asuna was quiet all this time as she stared up at the pipe organ. Finally, she said, "I think…we should believe in Siren." Everyone turned to her, surprised. "Not you too, Asuna." moaned Kirito. "We have to believe in Hummy and Siren's friendship." Asuna repeated, "If she keeps on believing, and as long as we keep believing, Siren might turn back to the friend Hummy remembers." "Believe in Siren?" echoed Kanade, looking to Hibiki.

"But Siren has done some horrible things. She's gonna turn this world into a world of despair." Kirito reminded her, "Yet you still think we should believe in her?" "Then tell me this…" said Asuna in a serious tone, "What would happen if I were to turn evil, Kirito?" Kirito looked surprised at this. So was everyone else. "If I turned evil, or if Sora turned evil. Would you stop believing in us?" Kirito looked down, thinking on Asuna's question.

"How 'bout you, Sora." Asuna continued, turning to him, "Would you stop believing in us?" "No way!" Sora answered without hesitation, "I would never give up on you guys, not until you're back to normal!" "Neither would I." Kirito agreed, "You kept believing in me even though I played the 'bad guy' role in Sword Art Online. And I kept believing in getting you back in Alfheim Online."

"Well that's the same for all of us." Asuna pressed on, "We all are good friends with one another. So if one of us turned away from us, we would do everything we could to bring them back. That's the same for Hummy and Siren. As long as Hummy believes, she will reach Siren, no matter what. Isn't that what best friends do for each other?"

Everyone looked to her, amazed at her words. After a moment's pause, Kirito huffed, "You're right. This is no time for doubting ourselves. It's time for action!" "We should be believin' in Siren, just like Hummy." Goofy declared. "We'll give her our full support!" Yui cheered, getting to her feet. "We can do it!" Donald followed.

"Hummy is our best friend, so why shouldn't we trust her judgement?" Hibiki questioned, raising off the bench. "It's because she believed in us that we made it this far, so we should be doing the same." asked Kanade, getting to her feet as well.

Asuna looked to each of them happily, then to Sora, who was grinning eagerly as he leaned back. "Lets go out there and find Hummy." he suggested, "She's bound to have found Siren by now." Asuna nodded in agreement. _All I was doing was saying what Hummy's eye were saying_. She thought to herself. The all gathered together in a group, their eyes set on what must be done. They had enough time moping around. It was high time they went out to stop the Minor Land from having their way.

Just then, the place started to rumble a bit. Everyone was sustaining their footing as they were surprised at this. The rumbling lasted for a few seconds, then it died down. "What was that?!" Donald squawked. "It came from outside!" Kanade noticed. The team rushed out of the place.

They arrived outside to see something amiss in the middle of the town. They could barely see the tops of what looked like giant toadstools, rising from the ground. "What is that?!" exclaimed Hibiki. "It has started." said a male voice. The team turned to see the old man appear from behind them. "Otokichi!" Kanade gasped. "What has started?" Kirito asked. "The worst concert the world has ever seen." Otokichi answered. They turned back to where the giant fungi was growing.

"C'mon, let's get going!" Sora declared. "I bet Hummy's already there." Asuna assumed, "We need to show her that we believe in Siren, too." Everyone nodded in agreement, and they took off, leaving Otokichi standing there, running his fingers across his mustache.

* * *

**Chapter 6: Miraculous Transformation**

The team ran back into town and darted throughout the streets. People were running away from the center of the town. More Heartless were appearing all around them. The team was doing their best taking them out as they came before proceeding. The sky kept growing more glum, and the toadstool was getting closer as they ran towards it. They could see that there was more than one of them growing from one stem.

They arrived at the center of town. From their view, they could see the multiple heads of the toadstool growing from one of the building structures. On the highest one stood the Minor Trio, Siren and Mephisto, with Maleficent and Pete right behind them. On the second highest head, a plant-like music stand was in place, and on it was a pink music book with a golden heard on it. On the third highest was the orchestra, with all the musical instruments having arms and bodies for themselves. On the other toadstool heads contained a plethora of Heartless, watching and waiting.

"Quite the stage those guys set up." Kirito stated. "What's that book up there?" Donald asked, pointing at the music stand. "Is that the Legendary Score?" Sora guessed. seeing it. "Unforgivable." Hibiki snarled, "The score should have the Melody of Happiness written on it." "I can't take this anymore!" barked Asuna, running ahead with Keyblade at hand. All but Hibiki and Kanade followed them.

Those on the top toadstool saw the people below them. "The Pretty Cure!" Mephisto noticed, "And who are those people?" "Well, well. If it isn't those wretched fools, trying to stop your concert." "Maleficent!" shouted Sora, seeing her from a distance. "And Pete!" Donald squawked. Pete guffawed loudly. "You kiddies came just in time!" he boomed at them, "You're just about to witness a concert of which you've never seen before!"

Pete whistled loudly, and several Heartless fell down to the ground to meet with the six. They pulled their weapons out, and went to work on the Heartless. The Heartless kept coming one after another, but the team kept knocking them out furiously. It took a few minutes, but they managed to sustain their own against the first swarm of Heartless.

When they cleared it, Hibiki and Kanade came to their sides, their transformation devices, the Cure Modules, at the ready. "Now it's your turn!" Sora shouted, pointing up at Mephisto. "I think not!" he shouted back, "What can you do after you see that!" He pointed to the top of a tall clock tower near them.

On the top of the pyramid shaped roof was none other than Hummy, sitting down and apparently unconscious. She was surrounded by a strange red strip of music bar. She also had two dark-colored headphones over her ears. Underneath the roof contained a cage that had all of the Fairy Tones within it.

"Hummy!" Hibiki called out. "Fairy Tones!" cried Kanade. "If you attempt to keep fighting, or if you Pretty Cures even think of transforming, I will have your Fairy of Song listen to the Melody of Sorrow herself!" Mephisto warned them, and he started to laugh maniacally. Maleficent watched menacingly as the group looked up at Hummy and the Fairy Tones. They were unable to do anything with them in danger.

"Is this really necessary, Lord Mephisto?" Siren asked. "Now they can't do anything to help, and neither can you." he answered. "Me?" Siren questioned. "If you were to forget the evilness in your heart, I shall have that cat sing the Melody of Sorrow." Mephisto continued, turning to the spot where Hummy was at, "You hear that? You dense cat!"

Hummy was still, not responding to the voices. Finally, she slowly opened her eyes, and yawned deeply. "Did you say something, nya?" she asked. Mephisto and the Minor Trio collapsed. "S-S-She was…" "She was asleep?!" sung the Minor Trio. Maleficent snorted in disbelief. Pete looked dumbfounded at the stupidity of the cat. Those on the ground looked up in concern.

"Don't you worry, Lord Mephisto." Siren assured the dark king, "I'm not confused anymore." "I know. I believe in you." Mephisto replied as Siren jumped down to the head below them, where the Legendary Score was at.

"Hummy, there's no point in stopping me anymore." Siren warned Hummy. Hummy paused for a few seconds, then she answered, "I will not stop you, nya! I'm your friend, so I'm not going to get in your way, nya." "Hummy!" gasped Kanade as everyone else looked startled. "Why's she saying that?" asked Yui. Siren chuckled at this, but then she felt something in her heart that startled her. "What? What was that?" she mumbled, looking down at her chest.

"You don't need to worry about me, Siren, nya." Hummy assured her. Siren shook off the feeling she had before and huffed, "Hummy, you're as dense as ever. I'm about to sing the Melody of Sorrow. The world will fall into sadness. Is that all right with you?" "It is, nya!" Hummy responded, making Siren confused. "What's with that foolish cat?" Maleficent asked, "Is this an attempt to stall for the inevitable?" "Ba-ha-ha! That cat's even more stupider than I thought!" laughed Mephisto.

"Even if this world falls into sadness, everything will be fine, nya!" Hummy continued. "Why do you say that?" Siren asked amusingly. "Because when that happens, you'll be crying with me, nya!" Hummy answered, "So everything will be fine, nya!" Siren was stunned. So was everyone else. Now it made sense on what Hummy was saying. She wasn't gonna stop her because she knew that whether Siren sang or not, they would share the same fate, and still be friends.

"I can't stand this! How dense can you get?!" shouted Siren. "Sorry about being so dense, nya." Hummy apologized, and she even started to show tears in her eyes. Siren was just surprised to disbelief at her reaction. "No matter what happens, we're friends, nya!" cried Hummy, "We're best friends FOREVER, nya!"

Hummy opened her mouth again, and she begun to sing. But her voice was completely different to that morning. It was breathtakingly beautiful. The tone felt beyond her years. There was not one faltered note in her voice. Those on the ground listened to her song, unable to speak. All of the girls started to tear up at her singing. Even Donald and Goofy started to show signs of crying, too. Sora and Kirito weren't tearing up, but Hummy's voice left them stunned and amazed.

Siren was also stunned as well. Suddenly, she was thinking back in time, to when Hummy hugged her after she claimed to give up being evil, to when they were singing together. She even went further back, to when they were much younger cats, when they use to sing together, practice together. Those moments. Those were moments of friendship the two had. That emotion started to weld up inside Siren's heart as Hummy ended her singing. A few drops of rain started to fall, a couple hitting right underneath Siren's eye, almost like tears.

"Enough of this FRIENDSHIP!" barked Mephisto, bringing back the reality of the moment, "Melody of Sorrow, standby!" he waved his hand to the orchestra below him, and they prepared themselves, with a conductor at the ready. "Stop this!" shouted Hibiki. "Believe in them." said Otokichi, who appeared from behind them, "A miracle will definitely occur." The group looked from the old man to Siren, who moved herself in front of the Legendary Score.

"Cue the Melody of Sorrow!" declared Mephisto. The conductor down below raised his baton, waiting for Siren to start singing. However, the moment never came. Everyone stared in shock as they saw Siren, her mouth open, but she struggled to sing anything. She was unable to sing the Melody of Sorrow.

"Siren!" barked Mephisto, then in a deeper tone, "I was right to not believe in you." He raised his hands, and snapped his fingers. Instantly, the headphones in Hummy's ears started to play the Melody of Sorrow, causing the little cat pain. "Hummy!" shouted Sora and Asuna. Siren looked away, unable to see Hummy in pain.

"Hummy, listen up!" demanded Mephisto, "Friendship? Love? Trust? All of that is useless. Erase all happiness and drown the world in the Melody of Sorrow! That's your mission!" Siren was struggling with the strange pounding in her heart, and without realizing it, she smacked the pages of the Legendary Score with her paw, sending all of the notes on it flying. "What are you doing?!" demanded Mephisto, bringing Siren to the realization of what she just did.

"Now's our chance!" Asuna declared, running at the clock tower. Using her momentum and sheer will, she started running vertically up the tower, towards where Hummy and the Fairy Tones were at. "Asuna!" shouted Sora and Kirito. "Heartless! Stop her at once!" Maleficent demanded, raising her staff. A half a dozen Blue Rhapsodies flew up and started shooting Blizzard attacks at Asuna. She saw what was coming at her, but she pressed on, causing the Blizzard attacks to strike all around her, but all missed her.

Meanwhile, the freed notes were scattering about. "I won't let you get away!" barked Mephisto, jumping into the air, "Come forth, Negatone!" he produced a dark sound wave using his voice, sending the notes hurdling into the clock tower, impeding Asuna's path. "What is he…?" Asuna started, but then she saw all of the multi-colored notes change deep red, and their eyes turned evil. A dark, bird-like being started to appear above the clock tower, directly above Hummy.

Hummy reacted by struggling to get away. She slid off the roof and fell on top of the cage where the Fairy Tones were at, smashing it. She then continued to fall directly into Asuna's path, who caught her, but she begun to fall as well.

The red band encircling Hummy's body was still around her, making her unable to move. The headphones flew out of Hummy's ears as she and Asuna fell to the ground, the Fairy Tones in pursuit of them. "How do we get this thing off of you?" Asuna demanded, struggling to get the red band off. The Fairy Tones came to her aid, and lined up along the band. With their musical powers, they caused the band to disappear, setting Hummy free.

The others at ground level ran over as Asuna landed onto her feet, with Hummy in her arms. "You guys alright?" Kirito asked. Asuna gave a peace sign, indicating things were all right. Hummy and the Fairy Tones were just as fine. "Let's get away from the clock tower!" Hibiki suggested, and the team ran away as the dark red bird from the sky folded itself around the clock tower.

There was a burst of black energy, and the clock tower changed. It became alive. A skeletal body formed itself around the structure of the clock tower, making claws and feet as well. Menacing yellow eyes appeared on the face of the clock. "NEGATONE!" boomed the beast. "What is that?!" cried Kirito. "A Negatone!" Hibiki answered. "It doesn't look to friendly!" Asuna pointed out as they got their weapons at the ready. It begun to rain upon them.

"You were hurting Hummy…" Kanade growled. "Bringing the world down with the tones of sorrow…" Hibiki added. "Unforgivable!" the two shouted in unison, pulling their Cure Modules out. Dori and Reri once again inserted themselves into the devices. "_Let's Play! Precure Modulation!_" shouted the two, activating their transformation, presenting themselves as Cure Melody and Rhythm once again.

"Heartless! Go forth and destroy them!" Maleficent demanded. All of the Heartless pounced down upon the group, who were ready for them. They jumped up in unison, and came at the Heartless as they fell, striking and knocking them all out as they came. When they came back down, they found a numerous amount of Heartless still surrounding them.

"I think it's time to see what this new power has in store for me." Asuna decided, closing her eyes as her body glowed a rose pink aura, "_Savior Soul!_" Her body bursted in a bright light.

In a cutscene, Asuna's Savior Form presented itself piece by piece, ending with her piece of hair falling over her shoulder. She landed onto the ground, causing a thunder shockwave at her feet. She stood straight up as she closed here eyes, her Keyblade in front of her face. "_In a bright flash…I awaken, and strike!_" she chanted calmly, opening her eyes and whipping her Keyblade to one side as she struck a pose.

Asuna held her position as she faced the Heartless, then the team divided up so as to cover more ground. Asuna's fighting style had changed quite a bit from her normal form. Even her whole demeanor had changed. She was much calmer, more direct with her attacks. Her attacks composed from making lightning-blitz slashes to firing Ruin shots from her Keyblade.

Her finisher attacks were even more devastating. While on the ground, her finisher was called 'Razor Gale', twirling her Keyblade so fast, that it formed a blast of purple-colored, cutting wind, which was sent towards her opponents. Her aerial finisher was called 'Crushing Blow', in which her Keyblade duplicated itself, forming a scythe-shaped aura around the Keyblades, then she charged in midair, her weapons outstretched, striking any Heartless in her path. "So that's the power of the Soul Drive? Amazing!" Kirito gasped, seeing Asuna strike hard.

When they cleared the area, Asuna reverted herself back to normal again. Asuna rubbed her head, amazed. "You feeling alright?" asked Melody. "That was something else…" Asuna stated, "I almost felt Lightning's spirit guiding me in those attacks." "The Soul Drive is one crazy power." Yui stated. "But it is really cool!" Sora stated eagerly.

Just then, something overshadowed the crowd. They turned just in time to see the massive, skeletal fist from the Negatone brought down upon them, causing them to fly in all directions, crying in agony. "Ha! Very well done!" barked Mephisto, looking from the attack to Siren, who was walking away from the Legendary Score.

"Traitor Siren!" boomed Mephisto, causing Siren to stop and look up at him, "Watch this." He snapped his fingers. On the ground, more headphones started to appear in front of Hummy, and begun chasing after her. "Get away from me, nya!" she wailed, running as fast as she could. "Hummy…" Siren muttered. "Hummy!" Sora and Melody shouted, seeing her run, but they looked up and jumped out of the way just as another fist almost came down upon them.

Suddenly, Hummy slipped on a puddle, causing her to tumble forward. Recovering, Hummy shielded her ears as the headphones started surrounding her head, trying to get to her ears. The Minor Trio walked up to her, their eyes flashing red from a thunderbolt. "Stop… Stop it…" Siren muttered as Bassdrum picked Hummy up with both hands. Tears fell from her eyes as she shouted, "Stop it! Stop making Hummy sad!" "Siren!" Hummy cried. The team on the ground heard her outcries.

Suddenly, Siren's pendent started to crack as something from within shined. After several cracks, the pendant shattered, and Siren was overwhelmed by a bright light. Everyone shielded their eyes from the light, but they could see Siren standing there, her mane of hair disappearing on her as she transformed. She had just turned into a human.

Her eyes opened to reveal the same sharp yellow eyes as before. With one leap, she dove down at the Minor Trio, blasted them away and freed Hummy. She then scooped her up and brought her back to the toadstool head again, right next to the Legendary Score. The light faded away, and everyone was startled to see what she had become. The blue and white, frilly uniform. The arm guards and boots with heart-shaped markings on it. Her hairstyle. There was no doubt what had happened to her; she had just become a Pretty Cure.

Hummy was wrapped under one arm of Siren, smiling as she looked up at her. "Thanks you so much, Siren, nya!" she thanked her. Siren blinked, then realized what she had done. "No way…" Melody and Rhythm gasped, looking up at Siren. She dropped her arm, causing Hummy to fall, looked all around, then looked at her new form. Startled and unable to say anything, she made one tremendous leap, and disappeared behind one of the buildings. "Siren!" shouted Asuna as everyone watched her go.

* * *

**Chapter 7: Vs. Clocktower Negatone**

"Siren…became a Pretty Cure?!" Mephisto gasped, "This is impossible!" Pete and Maleficent watched that whole scene with curiosity, then Maleficent looked up to see a black orb floating down from the sky. It had a white Treble Clef on it, and it looked distorted. "This is it; the Key of Discord!" said Maleficent, reaching up to catch the orb as it fell, "The cat must've had it on her before she changed. Finally it is mine!"

She whipped around and walked away from Mephisto, who turned to her. "Come! We're leaving!" Maleficent barked to Pete. "R-Right!" Pete replied, following her. "Maleficent, come back!" Mephisto called out to her. Maleficent stopped herself. "I have what I came for." She responded, "Do what you want to the rest." With that, Maleficent and Pete vanished out of sight as they teleported away.

Mephisto gritted his teeth as he turned back to the Negatone before him. "Strike now, Negatone!" he ordered. Negatone's voice boomed loudly as it towered over the team, who set their concentration back to the behemoth before them. "We can worry about Siren later!" Kirito told the group, raising his Keyblade, "Let's take this thing out, first!" Everyone got themselves ready to fight, then they charged at the monster.

The Negatone started firing down a series of note-shaped arrows upon them. The team did their best darting around them, knocking away any that came in their path. Kirito, Melody and Rhythm were at the base of the beast first, and struck hard at it. Their attack didn't phase the giant Negatone, who did a side swipe with his fist, sending the trio crashing into one of the nearby buildings.

"Kirito!" shouted Asuna. "Melody! Rhythm!" cried Sora. They looked up to see more arrows shower down upon them. They shielded themselves as the attack caused smoke to rise from the ground, and they were sent flying.

Yui, Donald and Goofy unleashed their long-ranged attacks at the nearby arm, damaging it slightly. The Negatone brushed them away with the same hand, sending them flailing into the sky, crashing down to the ground.

Kirito instantly got off the ground and pelted towards the Negatone again. It brought down another fist, but Kirito jumped just in time to avoid it. The Negatone got his hand stuck in the ground, and Kirito saw this as an opportunity. He started running up the arm of the Negatone, heading towards its' clock face. It tried shooting a half a dozen arrows at him, but Kirito avoided them all. He got close to the shoulder, and jumped off to face the clock face. He then did a midair combo of slashes with his Keyblade. The attack to the face did damage the Negatone even more, and it flinched with every strike.

Kirito landed on the ground next to Asuna and Sora. "Looks like that face is its' weak point." Kirito pointed out, "We can cause more damage if we hit it there." "Then lets get to the face!" Sora declared, stepping forwards and concentrating. His body started to glow. "_Sky Pirate Form!_" he shouted, and his body bursted with energy.

In a cutscene, Sora's Sky Pirate Form slowly revealed itself from top to bottom. The sky above him turned blue and cloudless as he fell from the sky, landing onto the ground. He twirled his Keyblade in one hand, slammed it point-first into the ground, hoisted himself onto the handle, and crouched down on top of his Keyblade. "_Fly in the freedom of adventures!_" he chanted, rubbing his nose as he held his position.

Sora hopped off and grabbed his Keyblade in one hand, ready to fight. He charged in as the Negatone brought down a fist. Sora spun to avoid the fist and started jumping his way up to the top of the Negatone. Sora was a lot more nimble than before, and his use of the Keyblade had changed. He kept slamming his Keyblade into the body of the Negatone, hopped onto it, jumped off, then conjured his Keyblade to his hand again and repeated.

Once he got to the face, he unleashed a furious series of attacks, causing it to flinch from the immense damage. Sora ended with his midair finisher, 'Red Spiral', sending a swirl of red and blue energy that exploded, damaging the Negatone.

The Negatone brought down a fist onto Sora, and he endured it as he fell down to the ground. "Sora!" shouted Kirito and Goofy. Sora got to his feet again, damaged, but still intact. Sora's endurance was also improved thanks to the form.

Melody and Rhythm made a combo strike onto the base of the Clocktower Negatone, damaging it. The monster tried clawing at them, but it missed. Donald and Asuna unleashed a storm of Thunder magic onto the monster as Kirito, Goofy and Yui charged in for their close ranged attacks. The attack hit home, and Negatone was starting to feel the pain from the attacks. Sora finished the team attack with his ground finisher, 'Cataclysm', sending a row of stalagmites at the feet of the Negatone, causing it to topple over.

"Charge!" Kirito shouted, and the team charged in for their next wave attacks. The Negatone raised its' head, and spun the clock hands on its face. It shot a round disc of energy from his face, and it struck Kirito, Sora, Goofy and Donald. "Guys!" Asuna shouted.

As it passed through them, it looked like the attack didn't faze them, but it did something else. The boys' movements had slowed down. They seem to be running in slow-motion. Even there outcries became slow. "What?" Melody gasped, seeing them. "The tower slowed them down!" Yui realized.

The Negatone took this chance, and got to its' feet again, causing the others to fall off of it. The boys were falling as well, but they were falling slowly, the time slowed all around them. The Negatone raised a fist, and punched the four boys just as time started to move back to normal for them again. The punch sent them hurdling away from the others, crashing into the large toadstool. They fell to the ground, unable to move from pain. Sora's Soul Drive Form was up, causing him to revert back to normal.

"Oh, no…" Rhythm muttered as the four girls saw the boys. Then a looming shadow caused them to turn just in time to be struck down by the Negatone's fist. The collision caused the ground to shake, and a crater to form from where the fist landed. The Negatone relinquished his fist to see all four girls sprawled on the ground, taken heavy damage from the attack.

"It time for all of you to run away crying!" Mephisto barked with laughter as he saw the team, "Just give up! You are all weak! Run while you are feeling like it!" There wasn't a sign of movement from the team. Then Asuna and Melody's fists curled.

"Since when…do I ever listen to the part of me that tells me to run away?" groaned Asuna, getting to her feet again. "The Pretty Cure never give up, no matter what!" Melody declared, following Asuna. "We won't succumb to our fears, and we will continue to fight!" Yui added, stumbling to her feet. "That's right! Until the world becomes happy again…" Rhythm started. "Until the lights of the world are pure again…" Asuna added. "WE WILL NEVER GIVE UP!" they shouted in unison.

"That's nice. Now fall into oblivion!" declared Mephisto, raising his hand. The Negatone aimed its' head at the girls, and shot another wave of slowing energy. The dispersed to either side; Asuna and Melody to one side, Yui and Rhythm on the other. The Negatone raised its' fists, and slammed both of them on the ground, forming a dust cloud.

For a second, the dust cloud hid the four from view. Then the four pelted out of the cloud one after another, racing up the arm of the monster. Melody and Rhythm brandished their Belltier rods, and Miri and Fari went into each of them. All four jumped up to the head, directing their weapons at it. Their was a burst of energy, and the Negatone was blasted away from the attack, stumbling backwards. "Lets finish it!" Melody declared. The other three nodded.

Dori and Reri appeared, and inserted themselves into the opposite end of the Pretty Cure's rods. They held out their rods in both hands sideways, twisted them, and the rods separated into two pieces. Asuna twirled her Keyblade, readying herself as Yui came from behind her, gathering the wind with her tessen.

The Pretty Cures started to shake their two halves one by one, then a few more times in unison. "_Overflowing melody's miracle session!_" Melody chanted, drawing a heart with each half, forming a pink and orange heart, which bursted into flames. "_Precure Miracle Heart Arpeggio!_" She shouted, launching the burning heart.

"_Bursting rhythm's fantastic session!_" Rhythm chanted, forming a white and yellow heart, which also bursted into flames. "_Precure Fantastic Piacere!_" she shouted. shooting the burning heart after Melody's.

"Yui, now!" Asuna shouted. Yui used all of the wind she gathered, and caused an immense gust, causing Asuna to be sent flying after the two burning hearts, the wind spiraling around her body. She made contact with them, and the three attacks combined, forming a swirling, flaming, heart-shaped stream with Asuna in the middle of the pink, orange, white and yellow-colored, energy.

She spun with her Keyblade out in front, shouting a battle cry as she drew in closer to the Negatone. The two objects mades contact, and their was an explosion of energy, followed by a double heart and keyhole encircling the Negatone, along with a music bar full of hearts. Asuna was sent straight back to the others as they landed. "_3/4 beat! 1, 2, 3…Finale!_" chanted Asuna, Melody and Rhythm, waving their rods and Keyblades like batons, before swinging them once more, causing the energy surrounding the Negatone to explode.

The Negatone started to feel sleepy, and it dozed off to sleep. This caused it to disappear in a flash of light, causing the clock tower to revert back to normal. All of the Notes that formed the Negatone were still dark red as they were on the clock tower. Hummy meowed as she clapped her hands together, sending a pink heart at the notes, reverting them back to normal. They then flew towards them and into the seven Fairy Tones, who chimed happily. "Nya! Nya! So many notes we've gathered, nya!" cheered Hummy.

Mephisto roared in fury at failing to defeat them. "No matter! I have the Legendary Score right here!" he barked, holding the pink book in his hands, "I'll defeat you later and take back those notes! Just you wait! Time to retreat!" he disappeared into the sky, with the Minor Trio following him. The large toadstools vanished without a trace. Everything was back to normal.

The four girls looked to each other happily. "We did it!" cheered Melody and Rhythm, hugging each other. "Mama!" cried Yui, leaping into Asuna's arms. "We took down that monster." Asuna sighed in relief. The four girls turned to see the four boys rush over to them. "Way to go, you girls!" cheered Sora. "Nice combination." Kirito complimented. Goofy and Donald whooped for joy. They saved the notes, and saved the world.

Hummy was happily looking up at them, then she remembered something, and looked around. "Where's Siren?" she wondered. The team looked down at Hummy, then off towards where Siren disappeared to. She was nowhere to be found.

* * *

**Chapter 8: Find Your Friend**

The skies cleared up after a while. Melody and Rhythm went back to being Hibiki and Kanade again. "Thanks so much for helping us out!" Hibiki thanked the six, "We wouldn't have been able to stop them without you." "As long as there are Heartless or other bad guys involved, we are always eager to help." Sora replied.

"But I wonder what happened to Siren?" Kirito asked, looking aways, "I mean, she had just turned into a Pretty Cure, just like you girls." "But how did that happen?" Kanade asked, "I mean, she wasn't using a Cure Module." "It doesn't matter, nya!" Hummy replied, getting everyone else's attention, "Since she is a Pretty Cure, she has to be our friend now, nya."

"It's not gonna be that easy, Hummy." Hibiki reminded her, "She was our enemy just recently. Now just just suddenly turns into an ally? That's a bit much." "I'll find her and I'll talk to her, nya." Hummy told them, raising a paw to her chest, "You can count on me, nya." Hibiki and Kanade looked to one another, worried.

"Okay then, we'll leave it to you." Asuna answered, making everyone turn to her. "Asuna?" Kirito questioned. "She did just save Hummy, and she didn't sing the Melody of Sorrow. Plus, we trusted Hummy's friendship this far. Let's keep going with it." "She is right." Sora agreed, "Siren may have been a bad cat, but now she's good. That's all there is to it."

Asuna crouched down to Hummy. "We should get going right now, but we will come back to see Siren again." she told her, "In the meantime, you go search for her." "You got it, nya!" She stood up and turned to Hibiki and Kanade. "And you two be careful as well. The Heartless are still about. If there's any trouble, let us know, okay?" The two girls nodded.

Suddenly, a small orb of light appeared in front of Asuna, startling her. She lifted her hand, and the light disappeared to reveal a white and pink, linked keychain with a golden G-Clef medallion on the end. "What's that?" Hibiki asked. "A Keyblade Keychain!" Asuna answered, looking at it.

She conjured up her Keyblade, and swapped keychains. Instantly, the Keyblade transformed. It's handle looked like half of Rhythm's Fantastic Belltier, while its' stem looked like an extended version of half of Melody's Miracle Belltier, ending with a pink gem. The teeth were now half a golden heart with a treble clef.

Asuna looked amazed at her new Keyblade as Yui examined it. "That's the 'Suite Harmony' Keyblade." she explained, "It's great with magic. Plus, it allows you to perform magic faster." "Handy." Asuna stated, holding it up before putting it away.

"Do you really have to go?" Kanade asked. "We have to. Who knows what kind of trouble the Heartless are causing in other places." Sora answered. "But we will be back!" Donald declared. "Will you be back soon, nya?" asked Hummy. "Definitely." Asuna answered. They walked away from the group, waving goodbye as they walked off, finding a secluded area to teleport back to the Gummi ship again.

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**That's another story for the books. It was quite long, but I'm sure that a lot of these stories are gonna be long, too. For some of you who noticed, I hadn't uploaded the pictures of Sora, Kirito and Asuna in their Soul Drive Forms yet. I will be getting to that this week, along with the new Keyblade, 'Suite Harmony'. Anyways write a review, tell your friends and wait for the next episode.**

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**Next time on SAK II:**

**Asuna: Wow! We're above the clouds!  
**

**Kirito: Look, our fairy wings are with us!**

**Sora: Wish I could fly like you guys...**

**Asuna: Hey, how about that angel over there. He could help.**

**Sora: Look out! Heartless and Unversed!**

**Yui: They're coming from the Underworld!**

**Author: Next time on Sword Art Kingdom II: Dimensional Bonds: Skyworld! The Guardian Angels of Palutena!**

**Sora, Kirito & Asuna: Let's unlock the path to our bonded hearts!**


	5. Jiminy's Journal: Kanon Town

**Here are the character profiles from Kanon Town.**

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Hummy

Origin: Suite Pretty Cure

_A young Fairy of Song from Major Land. She leads the team of Suite Precure in finding the notes to the Melody of Happiness so she can sing it. She trusted Sora, Kirito, Asuna and friends in aiding her and Siren to collecting the notes. She is naive and an airhead, though she takes that as a compliment, and has a happy-go-lucky attitude, along with absolute trust in her friends._

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Hibiki Hojo

Origin: Suite Pretty Cure

_A young girl who resides in Kanon Town. Her best friends include Hummy and Kanade. She is one of the chosen few to become a Pretty Cure. Her alter ego is Cure Melody. She joined with the heroes after meeting up with Sora, Asuna and Yui after they collected some notes, warning them about Siren's trickery. She is cheerful, justified, athletic, and she hates to lose to anything._

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Kanade Minamino

Origin: Suite Pretty Cure

_A young girl who resides in Kanon Town. Her best friends include Hummy and Hibiki. She is one of the chosen few to become a Pretty Cure. Her alter ego is Cure Rhythm. __She joined with the heroes after meeting up with Sora, Asuna and Yui after they collected some notes, warning them about Siren's trickery._She is calm and mature, though she can be _stubborn and hates to admit she is wrong._

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Siren

Origin: Suite Pretty Cure

_A Fairy of Song from Major Land, though she works for Mephisto in Minor Land. She is good friends with Hummy, but she used her naive nature to trick her into getting all the notes to sing the Melody of Sorrow. However, Hummy's friendship for her broke the darkness in her heart, and she transformed into a Pretty Cure. Siren is sly, devious and hard to read, but Hummy opened her heart, realizing what she was doing was bad._

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Cure Melody

Origin: Suite Pretty Cure

_Hibiki's alter ego. She transforms by using the Cure Module and the Fairy Tone, Dori. She is granted to super-human strength and endurance, and works harmoniously with Cure Rhythm when dealing with foes. Her weapon of choice is the Miracle Belltier, in which she uses to unleash her best attacks along with her other Fairy Tone, Miri._

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Cure Rhythm

Origin: Suite Pretty Cure

_Kanade's alter ego. She transforms by using the Cure Module and the Fairy Tone, Reri. She is granted to super-human strength and endurance, and works harmoniously with Cure Melody when dealing with foes. Her weapon of choice is the Fantastic Belltier, in which she uses it to unleash her best attacks along with her other Fairy Tone, Fari._

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?

Origin: Suite Pretty Cure

_Siren's Pretty Cure alter ego. She transformed while begging for Hummy not to get hurt. She saved Hummy, and disappeared shortly after. Her name and powers are unknown._

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Mephisto

Origin: Suite Pretty Cure

_The ruler of Minor Land. His main goal is to find the notes so that Siren can sing the Melody of Sorrow, and bring forth despair and sadness to the people. He acts more like a schoolyard bully rather than a villain, but is determined to reach his goal._

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Bassdrum

Origin: Suite Pretty Cure

_Leader of the Minor Trio to serve under Mephisto. He is arrogant, rude, and will do anything to make sure to keep his status as leader._

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Baritone

Origin: Suite Pretty Cure

_One of the Minor Trio to serve under Mephisto. He is cool and cold, though the smartest of the trio._

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Falsetto

Origin: Suite Pretty Cure

_One of the Minor Trio to serve under Mephisto. He always hits the highest note of the trio when singing._

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Otokichi Shirabe

Origin: Suite Pretty Cure

_Owner of a cathedral. His origin is unknown, though he does seem to know much about the dangers of Minor Land, and isn't surprised about the Pretty Cure._

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**The ? is Cure Beat, but it won't be known until the team's second visit.**

**Also, Asuna's Savior Form and the Suite Harmony Keyblade are now posted on my Deviant Arts page. Go to my profile to find the link.**


	6. Skyworld! Guardian Angels of Palutena!

**Here's the next episode. I did my best with keeping the 'Kid Icarus: Uprising' battling and humor as I could. Hopefully, it worked out. Read and enjoy!**

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_(I do not own Kingdom Hearts or Sword Art Online. All I do is form my imagination from both stories, and share it with the world!)_

**Chapter 1: Head Above the Clouds**

The Gummi ship ran its' course through the endless space, going towards the next space gate. The interior of the gate looked like they were in a swirling hurricane of some sort, and there were giant boulders and building pieces swirling in its' wake, along with all the Heartless and Unversed. After some navigations skills, the team found the keyhole, opened it up, and went through the gate.

They found themselves above a new world, which looked like part of it looked like structures above the clouds, while underneath contained some sort of medieval type of earth world.

"So what world is this?" Kirito asked Yui as he gazed out the window. "Let me see…got it! The destination we'll be arriving in is called Skyworld." Yui answered, looking up at the monitor. "Skyworld?" Sora questioned, "So it's a world in the sky?" "Well, partly." Yui replied, "It's a world containing the land in the sky, the earth, and then there's the Underworld." "So this world also has an Underworld, too, huh?" asked Kirito, recalling Hercules' world.

"I wonder what kind of people live down there?" Asuna asked Goofy as they got up and over to the transporter. "I dunno. But I'm sure it's gonna be great!" Goofy replied eagerly. "If we're gonna be in the sky, how're we gonna get around?" Donald asked. "We'll think of something." Sora replied. "I was afraid you'll say that." Kirito sighed, "Honestly, try thinking ahead on these things, will ya?" Once all three of them got onto the transporter, Yui locked in the coordinates, and got on the transporter before it teleported down to the surface.

Once they appeared, the team found themselves on a large stone platform surrounded by clouds, which had turned golden from the sun's rays. The view of the sky seemed endless, and from a far off distance, they could see even more stone platforms and broken columns that use to be part of buildings.

Kirito whistled in amazement. "Wish Leafa could see this." he said. "It does feel like Alfheim Online." Yui agreed, "Though a lot more room. Plus you can't see the ground from up here."

Donald and Goofy walked towards the edge of the stone platform. Donald made one too many steps, and almost tumbled off. Goofy quickly grabbed him, and almost fell off as well. Asuna came to their aid, grabbing Goofy's feet before he and Donald fell beneath the clouds. She pulled them out with all her strength, giving Goofy some footing so he could pull Donald out, too. Together, they came back to the surface.

"You guys okay?" Sora asked, rushing to them. "Yeah, nothing to worry about." panted Asuna, turning to Donald, "But we better watch our footing next time." "Did ya see anything down there?" Sora asked Donald. "Uh-uh. Too cloudy." Donald answered. "I wonder how deep the clouds are?" Goofy pondered. "Let's…not find out." Asuna replied.

Seconds after the trio got to their feet again, parts of the cloud in front of them started to puff up like a geyser field, and Heartless appeared from the clouds. "Heartless!" gasped Sora as the airborne Heartless appeared before them while Shadows revealed themselves on the stone platform. On Kirito and Yui's end, more monsters appeared out of the clouds. "…and Unversed!" Kirito added, seeing the crow-like Unversed in front of them, followed by Flood Unversed appearing on the platform too. The team drew their weapons and charged.

The battle was fierce, not only composed of Flood and Shadows, but the airborne enemies were Air Pirate Heartless and Archraven Unversed. While the Heartless on the ground were easy to beat, the ones in the air weren't as easy. They kept flying high distances from them before diving down to attack them. The team only could get at them when they attacked, so they had to react in time before they flew away. To add to the problems, the Heartless and Unversed kept coming up from the clouds and from the ground every time they knocked some out.

After several minutes, the team found themselves back to back as more Heartless and Unversed surrounded them. "Ugh! There's no end to them!" Asuna pouted. "Stop coming at us!" squawked Donald. Kirito charged ahead and knocked out a couple Shadows each. But he failed to notice the Air Pirate dive bombing at him from behind. "Kirito, watch out!" Sora called out.

Kirito turned just in time to see a light arrow pierce right through the side of the Heartless, making it disappear. Startled, Kirito looked towards where the arrow came from, then looked up to see something he could never believe.

An angel was flying towards them, with wings that shined a mystic blue glow to them. He held a strange gold and blue, stringless bow in his right hand. As he drew in closer, he could see that he looked like a young, teenage boy.

He had blue eyes, short, brown hair that grew in several tufts, and a golden laurel crown. He had on a white tunic with red and gold hems, fastened on by a red and gold fibula on his shoulder. He also had a brown belt with a golden buckle, dark blue shorts beneath his tunic, and long, brown sandals with beige bands and white fur on top. He also had gold and bronze bands on his arms, wrists and thighs, and two gold rings that hovered around his right arm.

"An angel?!" Kirito gasped as a couple Air Pirates flew towards the attacker. The angel readied himself, magically produced a string of light from his bow along with a light arrow, pulled back the string, and shot twice. The arrows shot down and magically curved themselves, directing at the Heartless, piercing right through them and making them disappear.

Everyone was in amaze as the angel descended in front of Kirito and landed onto the ground. He raised his head to him, giving off a smirk. "Hey there, need a hand?" he asked, raising his hand to wave. "Uh, yeah." Kirito replied, still not believing that an angel appeared before him. Recovering, he shook his head, and nodded firmly before turning his back and raising his Keyblade. "Hope you can fight as well as you can shoot." he told him. "Of course!" the angel responded, splitting his bow into two swords and holding them at the ready.

With their numbers added, the team went to work on fighting against all the Heartless and Unversed. The angel was well skill in both fighting close range with his twin swords, to putting them together to form the bow and shoot at enemies.

Sora found himself working side by side with this angel. "So you're an angel?" He asked, slicing a couple Floods. "Sure am!" answered the angel, shooting down an Archraven, "I'm Pit, servant and guardian of the goddess Palutena." "I'm Sora, and, uh, I'm one of the chosen wielders of the Keyblade." Sora greeted him, trying his best to make a title for himself, "My friends here are Kirito, Asuna, Donald, Goofy and Yui."

Sora jumped up to shoot an Air Pirate that came from behind Pit, while he rolled under Sora to get at a Shadow from behind. The to stood back to back again, looking at each other, grinned, then presumed the fighting. It took a few more minutes, but the Heartless and Unversed swarmed slowly died down until there was nothing left.

The team placed away their weapons, panting slightly from the battle they just endured. "That was quite a welcoming committee." Kirito stated sarcastically. "Heartless, Unversed, and a teen angel." Yui added, who sat on the ground, leaning back to back with Donald, "The only good one out of the group was the angel." "Yeah, thanks a lot for the help." Asuna thanked Pit. "It's no problem. It's my duty to protect those who're in danger." Pit replied cheerfully.

"So were you just passing by, or was there another reason you flew all the way over here?" Kirito interrogated Pit. "I was ordered to come here by Lady Palutena." Pit responded, "She noticed all the monsters appearing in the Skyworld. We presumed it was the Underworld Army attacking, but those enemies seemed much different. So while flying, I noticed you guys fighting here, so Palutena guided me here to aid you guys in battle."

"It's a good thing you did." Sora responded, "I wasn't sure how long we would've lasted here." "Yeah, it did look like you guys were being given a hard time." Pit chuckled, "Speaking of which, how in the world did you end up here? I mean, shouldn't you be, I don't know, down below, with all the other humans?" Sora and Kirito looked to each other nervously. Why do these kind of questions always come up?

"It's kinda hard to explain." Sora responded innocently. "You can can say we got to this platform by unusual means." Kirito added, doing his best keeping a straight face. "What do you mean unusual?" Pit asked, eyeing each of them, "Oh wait! Did your duck friend fly you up here?" Donald looked startled that he could come to that idea. "No, he couldn't fly anyway." Yui responded. "Okay, lemme guess again." said Pit, scratching his head, "A cannon? No, it wouldn't shoot you up this high. Maybe riding the Underworld Army! I doubt they would let you guys ride them."

_They came from a world beyond our reach, Pit._ said a woman's voice that only Pit could hear. "A world beyond?" repeated Pit, looking up, "C'mon, Lady Palutena. That sounds crazy if you ask me! I mean, how could they have come here? With wings?" _No, but with the Keyblade, they could._ Palutena corrected Pit. "Wait, you mean those keys those guys were using are that powerful?" Pit asked.

As Pit continued talking to Palutena, the others watched as Pit walked around the platform, apparently talking to himself. "Who's he talkin' to?" Goofy asked. "He said Palutena, so maybe he's talking to her." Yui answered. "But I can't hear her." Sora retorted, cupping his hands to his ears to listen all around. "Maybe it's an angel thing?" Yui asked. "Dunno. But it does look and sound weird having him talk to himself." Asuna responded, watching Pit rub his head in embarrassment while talking.

Pit ended his conversation with Lady Palutena, and turned to the group. "I just got done talking to Lady Palutena. She wants to meet you guys in person, so she's gonna bring us to her temple." "How's she gonna do that?" Sora asked. "Wait and see." Pit replied, looking up into the sky. Everyone followed his gaze.

Suddenly, a shining ray of light shined down upon the group. "Here we go!" Pit declared, and he was immediately pulled up by the ray of light. Everyone else followed Pit, feeling the unknown force pulling them up higher. It first started slow, then they were rocketed up to their next destination; Palutena's Temple.

* * *

**Chapter 2: Palutena & the Power of Flight**

After a bright light, the team found themselves on a floating island, and in front of the largest stone temple they had ever seen. It had many greek-style towers among it, including one that almost looked like the Greek Coliseum, only brand new. The central temple had a statue of a woman on top, holding a staff and shield, with wings that could almost reach the full diameter of the temple. There were other floating islands in the sky around the large temple, and they also had smaller temples and towns among them.

"This place is enormous!" Asuna gasped, spinning around to look at the entire scenery. "Kinda makes ya wonder what the interior looks like." Kirito asked. "Pit, you actually live here?" Sora asked the angel. "Of course. This is where all Palutena's guard live and await to be called upon. C'mon, I'll show you to the Main Hall."

He led the team towards a pair of double doors, guarded by two muscular-looking guys with golden helmets and wings, and a pin of a woman's face on their left arm indicating their allegiance. "Who're those guys?" Sora asked Pit. "Centurions. They're the soldiers of Palutena's guard." Pit answered.

As the team drew in closer, the centurions eyed the six others with Pit. "These people are with me." Pit declared, indicating Sora and the others, "Lady Palutena is expecting them." "Of course, captain." one of the brutes responded, "We'll open the gates for you." The two moved to the doors and opened them up for the group.

"Captain?" Kirito questioned, hearing what the brutes called Pit, "You're a captain?" "I'm the captain of all of Palutena's army." Pit answered carelessly, grinning as he turned to them. The six looked to Pit, surprised. "Seriously?" Asuna gasped, "But you're still a kid!" "I've been through a lot more than the rest of the of the army." Pit explained, "Plus, I'm a lot older than I look."

"So how old are you?" Kirito asked. Pit pondered on the question. "That's a good question." he responded, "I know I'm over 25, but I don't know exactly." "Over 25?!" Sora repeated, walking up to his side, "But you look like my age, and I'm only fifteen!" "Hey, angels, gods and goddesses all look younger than what they actually are." Pit answered, then he whispered, "Which reminds me; don't asked Lady Palutena about her age, and don't even call her 'ma'am', got it?" The others nodded in response, not wanting to upset a goddess.

Pit opened a pair of golden doors into the main hall, slash throne room. The floor looked like polished silver, along with the walls, with the exception of the stone columns. It had a high ceiling, and lights shined themselves on every column, making the room glow. More golden doors were around the room, and a floating, glass-like staircase let to a pair of tall doors on the far end.

However, the team's attention was directed towards the single plinth in the middle of the room, and on it stood a young woman who could only have been the Goddess of Light herself, Palutena.

She looked like she was in her early twenties, and she had long green hair that reached her lower legs, which matched her eye color. She wore a white dress with red and gold hemming, and it was under numerous gold ornaments that decorated across her waist, chest, and arms. She also had some similar styles that Pit had, such as the golden laurel crown, a red fibula and the brown-colored footwear, which were high heels. In one hand, she carried a gold staff with a blue handle and a floating blue crystal, and on her other arm, she had on a mirror shield.

As soon as they came near her, Pit immediately fell to one knee and bowed his head. "Lady Palutena, I have brought these people, as you requested." he told her. "Thank you, Pit." Palutena responded, stepping forward and floating down from her plinth. She landed neatly onto her feet as she smiled at the group, who looked to one another before deciding to mimic Pit, and get to one knee before her.

"It's an honor to meet you, your highness…I mean, your godliness…no wait…um…" Sora tried his best to make a good greeting. "Oh, don't worry about that." Palutena reassured his, "Just call me Lady Palutena." "Okay, Lady Palutena." Sora responded, getting up to his feet again. "But in any case, it's an honor to meet such a goddess as yourself." Kirito told her as the rest of the group stood up. "The pleasure is all mine." Palutena replied, smiling at them, "I am surprised to see so many chosen wielders of the Keyblade before me."

"How do you know about the Keyblade?" Kirito asked, startled as the others were that the fact she knew. "It's all through my goddess wisdom." Palutena answered in an ethereal voice. "Really?" Sora asked, amazed. "No, though that would be something." Palutena replied, making the other comically fall backwards.

"Actually, you aren't the first Keyblade wielders I've met." Palutena continued, "We aren't?" Kirito asked, rubbing his head as he stood up again. "There was another person long ago, who told me about the powers of the Keyblade." Palutena explained, pacing towards the floating stairs, "She also told me about Kingdom Hearts, and what powers are contained within it. She also told me a good way to make a tasty strawberry shortcake as well." "Seriously?" Kirito muttered, sweat-dropping.

"So who was this person?" Asuna asked, stepping forward. Palutena stopped to look at her, "Oh, I don't know." she answered carelessly, "It's been so long that I've already forgotten her name." The six heroes sighed. "For a Goddess of Light, you sure are forgetful." Asuna sighed.

"But I take it that's not the real reason why you brought us here." Kirito assumed. "Correct." Palutena answered, "The truth is that I need your help." "If you need our help, then we'd be happy to do so." Sora responded without a second thought, "So what is it?" Both Pit and Palutena were startled at Sora's immediate agreement. "Aren't you even curious about what Lady Palutena gonna ask?" Pit asked Sora. "If it's trouble, then we'll help out!" Sora responded, leaning back, "Besides, you saved us back there, so we should at least return the favor, right?"

Kirito shook his head in disbelief while Asuna giggled. "That's just like you, Sora." Kirito sighed, "But once his mind is set, there's no stopping him." "So we might as well listen to your request, since Sora is so eager." Asuna followed. Donald, Goofy and Yui all showed signs of disbelief before, but they smiled and nodded as well.

"You're just as resourceful as Pit." giggled Palutena, "It's odd to see such helpfulness from a human as young as you." "That's just a mixture of his childish, naive and friendly nature." Kirito stated bluntly. "Hey!" Sora moaned, turning to him, making Donald and Goofy giggle, since it was true. "Then he even more like Pit." Palutena followed, making Pit flinch from being dissed by the goddess. "C'mon, Lady Palutena. That's a bit harsh." he sighed, drooping his head to one side.

"But back to the subject; what do you want us to do?" Kirito asked, getting serious again. "You see, unknown enemies have aided the Underworld Army and the Forces of Nature in their destruction of the humans. They are attacking immensely, now including those new monsters as well." "You mean the Heartless and Unversed?" Sora asked. "Yes. And what's more dangerous is that these new enemies have divided themselves among the two leaders; the one controlling the Unversed are sided along Viridi, the Goddess of Nature, while the ones controlling the Heartless are siding alongside Hades, Lord of the Underworld." "Hades?!" Sora gasped. "Not the one we know, Sora." Yui reminded him.

"I get that the Underworld is aligned with them, but why are the Forces of Nature going along with this as well?" Pit asked, "Those Unversed don't sound like they fit in with her style." "I'm not too sure, but now both forces are attempting to get to this palace." Palutena replied, "This doesn't stop both sides from fighting with one another or the humans, but now they are more compelled to attack here."

"I bet it's because they wants to get rid of the you." Goofy guessed, looking to Palutena, "After all, you're the Goddess of Light." "Oh, what do you know?" Donald asked. "No, he's right." Asuna agreed, stepping forward, "You see, both the Heartless and Unversed want corruption and darkness. But with the Goddess of Light in the way…"

"Maleficent sure wants to have nothing more than darkness." Sora added. "And I think Vanitas wants the same." Kirito followed Sora's train of thought, "With those two aiding the opposing forces, it's only a matter of time before they reach this palace!" "Then, we gotta do something about that!" Pit declared. "I couldn't agree more." Sora replied, "There's gotta be a way for us to stop them."

"We could start by stopping one of the armies." suggested Kirito, "If we stop them, that'll be less enemies to deal with." "Then lets start by attacking Viridi." Palutena decided, "As Pit said, those things are not the natural kind of thing that she would be interested in." "Unversed are anything BUT natural." Yui muttered. "Which makes them easier to take out." Sora stated.

"So what are we waiting for?" Pit asked, "Let's move out!" He started rush up the floating staircase. "Hold on, Pit!" Palutena called out, "Do you even know where they are at?" Pit stopped after the fifth step, realizing his mistake. "Actually, I have no idea…" Pit replied, rubbing his head in embarrassment.

"Sora, are you sure you don't have an angel for a brother?" Kirito asked sarcastically, "Honestly, It's like I'm seeing twins." "What's that mean?" Sora snarled. "Oh, nothing." Kirito replied, looking away from Sora's gaze.

"Don't make fun of him!" Asuna told Kirito, "If I recall correctly, you've done your fair share of jumping into things without thinking." Kirito turned to retaliate, only to see Yui, Donald and Goofy nod their heads in agreement. Kirito bowed his head in despair.

"If it's the Unversed, then we have to find Vanitas." said Sora, "But where would he be?" "The Lunar Sanctum." Palutena answered, "I've been tracking the movements of both parties, and the Unversed are more than likely to be coming from there." "Then that's where were heading!" Sora declared.

"There's one problem; you aren't able to fly." Palutena continued, "If you had a pair of wings, I would be able to bring you up there." The team looked to one another sorrowfully.

Then Kirito had a realization. "Wait, maybe we could." he suggested, indicating himself, Asuna and Yui. "How?" Asuna asked. "With our fairy wings." Kirito answered, "If we could somehow conjure them up again, we can fly again." "I could be able to use the power of flight like how I did in Agrabah!" Yui suggested. Back then, she mixed her powers with the power of Aladdin's magic carpet to give the team the ability to fly again.

"But what power could Yui use to grant our wings back again?" Asuna asked. "I could help." Palutena answered, "I'll grant you some of my powers to aid you in your cause." "That's perfect; fairy wings by the goddess's powers."

"Wish I could help you guys out." Sora moaned, "But Donald, Goofy and I don't have the power of flight like you guys have." Kirito, Asuna and Yui looked to the other three, worried they might hurt their feelings if they leave without them.

"Don't worry about it!" Sora continued, knowing what they were thinking, "We could stand here and guard Palutena from the Heartless while you're gone!" "Good idea." Pit agreed, "We can't just rely on the Centurions a lot. They aren't exactly strong on their own. You protect Lady Palutena, we'll handle the Lunar Sanctum."

Kirito, Asuna and Yui gathered themselves around Palutena. Yui held out both hands, and Palutena took them. They closed their eyes in unison and concentrated. Instantly, they begun to glow a shining light that emanated that radiated itself upon Kirito and Asuna. The energy started to swirl around the four, making the other two glow as well.

After several seconds, Kirito felt something on his back, and he turned to see his black Spriggan wings produce themselves on his back. Asuna looked to see her blue Undine wings appear as well. Finally, Yui's clear-pink pixie wings appeared as well onto her back. The light died down between Yui and Palutena, and they opened their eyes.

"We got our wings back again!" Asuna cheered, looking back both sides to see her wings. "So is it like with Carpet before, and there's a radius to how far we can fly?" Kirito asked Yui. "Yes, but since Palutena's power is so immense, your radius reaches just beyond the atmosphere of this world." "That's quite a distance." Asuna commended.

"And it is just like before, your flight time last like it does in the game; fifteen minutes." "F-Fifteen minutes?!" stammered Pit, "But even with Lady Palutena's Power of Flight, I can only last for five." "Guess fairy wings are sturdier than angel wings." Kirito replied, "Besides, can't you fly on your own?" "No. I can only with Lady Palutena's powers. It's sad really. I'm the only angel in her army who can't fly on his own. But I know that someday, I WILL be able to fly on my own!" The team smiled at his determination.

"One last thing…" Palutena told the six heroes, raising her open palm. Six lights emerged from it, and dove into Sora, Kirito, Asuna, Donald, Goofy and Yui. "What was that?" Kirito asked, feeling his chest. "That was the Dazzling Godly Communication Light." Palutena said in her overdramatized ethereal voice, "It allows you six to communicate with me, or with any nearby gods or goddesses."

"You just made up that name…" Kirito muttered, as he and Asuna sweat-dropped. "That name is so awesome!" Sora exclaimed as he, Donald and Goofy had sparkles in their eyes. "She just made it up!" Kirito barked at them.

"We should hurry!" Pit exclaimed, "We need to go to wherever the Lunar Sanctum is at." He raced up the stairs towards the pair of tall double doors. "Thank you so much, Lady Palutena." Asuna thanked her, bowing to her before she, Kirito and Yui raced after Pit and up the stairs.

As soon as they got up, they opened the doors to reveal the open skies before them, with the clouds floating like fluffy plains. Pit immediately jumped out the door, and his wings started to glow brightly, allowing him to fly. Kirito, Asuna and Yui followed Pit in leaping off the edge, their wings at the ready as they took off. Sora, Donald and Goofy raced up the stairs to watch the four fly away into the sky. "Good luck, you guys!" Sora called out to them.

* * *

**Chapter 3: The Looming Lunar Sanctum**

Pit was whooping for joy as he soared ahead of Kirito, Asuna and Yui. Pit's wings were being guided by Lady Palutena's Power of Flight, so he had limited control over where he could fly. Night had fallen, and up above they could see the clear night sky. Kirito and Asuna were use to flying with their wings. Yui only had to get use to the fact that she grew in size since the last time she had flown. Nevertheless, it felt good to fly through the skies freely like this.

"Hey, Pit, you did say that you could only fly for a short amount of time, right?" Kirito asked as he came along side him. "That's right." Pit replied, "I can only fly for five minutes. If I try flying any further, my wings will burn up, and I will fall." "Sounds a lot like Icarus from Greek mythology." Asuna compared. "That kinda sucks." Kirito sympathized with Pit. "I wouldn't know what I would do without Lady Palutena's power of flight." Pit stated nobly.

_That's very kind of you, Pit. _Palutena's voice called out to the four, surprising Kirito, Asuna and Yui since it was so sudden, _But let's get back to the agenda, and that's to stop the Unversed. I was also planning to have Pit go to the Lunar Sanctum anyways, since that's where one of Viridi's commanders is at, Arlon the Serene._ "Take down two birds with one stone? That works out nicely." Kirito stated.

"So where is this place?" Asuna asked. _It is close by. _Palutena answered, _You see the moon? _The team looked up to see moon shining down like a beacon in the night. "Yeah, it's really pretty tonight." Pit acknowledged.

_And what about that?_ Palutena asked, angling Pit towards a second moon. "Like I said, they're very…" Pit started, then he stopped, "Wait a sec… There are two moons?!" "That's not natural, is it?" Kirito asked. _They're like eyes watching you._ Palutena stated. "That makes it sound a little creepy." Asuna said nervously.

The team followed Pit up towards the second moon. Suddenly, the moon started to split in half, revealing something mechanical from within. "What the…?" Yui gasped. "What kind of moon IS that?!" Pit gasped. _THAT's Arlon Lunar Sanctum. _Palutena answered. "It looks like it came out of a Sci-Fi movie." said Kirito. "Very cool." Pit stated with amazement.

"Look out!" Asuna shouted, seeing the central mechanism of the opened moon charging up. It fired a large beam at the group, who quickly dispersed in order to avoid it. "I take it back, it's not cool at all!" Pit corrected. _We're going in!_ Palutena declared, and Pit charged ahead, avoiding the random laser fire. Kirito, Asuna and Yui all charged in from behind.

Dealing with the laser fire wasn't as difficult as what came afterwards; flying Unversed, which not only contained Archraven, but now Axe Flappers and Glidewinders. Amongst the Unversed were a bunch of unknown creatures to Kirito, Asuna and Yui. Palutena described them as the Forces of Nature, and Kirito could understand why. Despite being live beings, they were made of organic material like plants, dirt and rocks. There were mainly one-eyed, flying acorns called Nutski. Then there were others like Bladers, Parashooters, and many others. Regardless, they had to be taken out.

Air battles were more difficult to deal with than land battles to the three SAO fighters, especially for Yui. Pit was a master in the air, slashing close range enemies while firing from a distance. The trio eventually started to master their skills.

While Kirito was more fighting up, close and personal, Asuna was imitating Pit's style of combat; fighting close enemies while firing Blizzard spells from a distance. Yui used her Whirlwind technique to blow the opponents out of the way while striking up close with her tessen.

"We're getting close!" Pit shouted as the team started to get a clear view of the surface of the Lunar Sanctum. _I'll get you there. _said Palutena, _Just follow Pit, and focus on avoiding fire. _"Roger!" Kirito responded. The team dove under the main laser cannon of the base, but there were other lasers that were being fired from it as well. The four fliers flipped and rolled to dodge the attacks as they flew underneath the main cannon and around the base.

"This is quite the security system!" cried Asuna. "Your telling me!" Kirito agreed. _With all THIS firepower, Arlon must be preparing for a massive attack._ Palutena assumed. _Why on earth would I be attacking?_ said a new, male voice, _I'm far too busy…defending, my dear._ "Who said that?!" Kirito demanded.

_You must be commander Arlon._ Palutena assumed. _Pleasure to make your acquaintance, Lady Palutena._ greeted Arlon, _And yours too, young master Pit. And these must be the troublemakers my guest warned me about._ "I'm guessing that would be Vanitas." Asuna growled.

_Lady Viridi said I mustn't let your attacks spread chaos HERE of all places._ Arlon continued, _Though the young master Vanitas says he welcomes you to enter in and face him. _"Really?" Asuna asked confused. "Good! Cause he's gonna wish he didn't say that once I'm done with him!" Kirito barked, gripping his Keyblade firmly.

The team continued to circle all around the base, taking out enemies and avoiding laser fire. Palutena explained she was trying to find a way in, so in the meantime, they had to take out as many of their forces as they could. At one point, they nearly got caught in a blast from the main cannon, but they avoided the attack. Finally, Palutena stated she found a corridor they could use to enter the interior of the ship, and they dove in.

The corridor had several enemies waiting for them, but the team quickly dispatched of them. At one point, they though the enemies were thinning out, but instead there were hidden Forces of Nature called Flages that nearly surprised them. Arlon stated how he was fond of them, and mistaken a sarcastic remark from Pit as a compliment, to which Pit barked he didn't like them at all.

They found an entrance into the interior of the base, ran through another corridor, blasting through closing gateway, avoiding more laser beams, and finally making it into a large opening inside where they started flying through. Pit's Power of Flight was almost over.

"Okay, now where do we go?" Asuna asked. _There's an entry point through a duct up ahead._ Palutena told them, _It's tight, so watch out!_ She guided Pit through a grated duct, and forced him to ram right through it, followed by Kirito, Asuna and Yui.

Once inside, they found the interior to be much different to the outside. "Wow, quite the ritzy place." Asuna stated. _It's like a whole other world. A classier world._ Palutena complimented. _I'm deeply flattered by your gracious compliments._ Arlon replied. "With this place and Arlon's talking, it makes me think he's more of a butler rather than a commander." Yui stated. "Who knew the Lunar Sanctum would be so nice?" Pit questioned. _I could get use to a place like this! _Palutena stated.

"Stop your gawking, kiddies!" said another voice, only this was over a loudspeaker, and it was definitely familiar. "Woah, who said that?" Pit asked. "Vanitas!" barked Kirito. "Well, hello there, you three." greeted Vanitas, "What, is Sora not with you? That's a shame. Still, my main prize is still among you, so I await for your arrival with Arlon. Get here soon, okay?"

"What do you mean 'main prize'?" demanded Asuna. "All in good time." Vanitas answered, "Though you will figure it out once we meet." They heard the loudspeaker turn off. "C'mon! We gotta get to where Arlon and Vanitas are at!" Kirito told Pit. "Right. Those two are going down!" Pit agreed.

The four started running through the immense interior of the place. While running, Pit found some food that was dropped on the ground thanks to Palutena. "Ew! Is that ice cream you're eating off the floor?!" Asuna asked disgustedly as Pit grabbed the ice cream cone and started munching it down. "Don't you know? Floor ice cream is good for your health." Pit answered while eating.

"Do you ever keep track of what he eats, Palutena?" Kirito demanded. _Personally, I find his eating habits a little disturbing. _Palutena answered, _But I learn to just deal with it. I prefer a different kind of taste, like the Forces of Nature go really well with cheese. _"Seriously, are you really a goddess?" Kirito asked as he shook his head in disbelief, "I never knew gods and goddesses who talk like this!"

They continued racing throughout the Lunar Sanctum, fighting off more Unversed and Forces of Nature. There were even holograms of the enemies that distracted them a lot. Palutena made a joke of using a 'Super Sensor', but it wasn't real. _Really?_ Kirito asked, _Do all of the deities in this world act like this, or is it just her?_ He looked to Asuna, who was just as dumbfounded as he was at Palutena's attitude.

They kept going through one pathway to another, going down a hill of slipping sand while avoiding cannon-like Forces of Nature and new Unversed called Red Hot Chili. Next, they had to slide on grindrails while hitting switches to keep the rail going to their next destination while taking down more enemies. After that, they had to deal with mirror tricks, and find the inconsistency in it, allowing them to find where to continue next. There were switches and floors that weren't really there. This place was full of trickery.

After several minutes of running and puzzle-solving, the four finally found themselves in the control center. However, they weren't alone. There was someone else in the room, but it wasn't Vanitas or Arlon.

"What?" gasped Asuna, seeing the black-winged angel in front of a blue orb of energy that could've only been the control center's power source. "He looks like Pit!" Yui pointed out. "Pittoo!" cried Pit, readying his weapons. "Seriously, that's the last time I want to hear 'Pittoo'!" barked the dark angel, pulling out a bow much like Pit's, "It's Dark Pit, and don't you forget it!"

"I don't know why he looks like you, Pit, but I don't really care." Kirito stated, getting right next to him, "Asuna! Yui! Take care of that core. We'll handle Dark Pit!" "Right!" the girls responded, and they ran to the side while Kirito and Pit charged at his darker form. The three engaged in a heated battle, and Dark Pit's fighting style was a lot like Pit's. Kirito couldn't help but think of Sephiroth when he saw this angel, since he looked like a fallen angel character, except this guy was way weaker.

Meanwhile, Asuna and Yui did there best taking down the control center, but it was difficult. Every time they attacked at close range, it shot out a shockwave that damaged them. And whenever they attacked from afar, it would shoot meteor-like projectiles at them in response. They just had to read the pattern of the machine as their attacks were changing it from blue to violet.

After a while, the core exploded, destroying it. "We did it!" cheered Yui. They turned to see Kirito and Pit standing there, while Dark Pit fell to one knee, beaten up from their attacks. "How's that, fool!" barked Sora. "I'll get you next time, Pit!" he growled, "You're lucky your little crowd was with you here!" His wings started to glow, and he took off out the door they came in, and out of sight.

"Should we go after him?" Kirito asked. "No, just leave him be." Pit replied, "We got to go to where Arlon is." "Right." Kirito agreed, turning to Asuna and Yui, who ran over to them, "Lets get moving!" The team raced through the next door, and continued on their path.

They found themselves on an elevator that went up to the surface of the Lunar Sanctum, where it felt like there on the side of the moon. Pit found himself a godly vehicle called the Exo Tank, and used it to shoot all the opponents. Luckily, Kirito, Asuna and Yui were able to catch up with him by flying. "I've always wanted to go to the moon." Kirito stated as they struck down enemies.

While they were racing around, Palutena attempted to get some information on why the Lunar Sanctum was being built, but Arlon was firm on not telling them, promising Viridi not to say anything about the place. However, he did tell them that the Lunar Sanctum did run on HIS power, so without him, the base would be useless. "So if we take him down, no more Lunar Sanctum." Kirito summed up. "Then lets keep fighting!" Pit declared.

They continued on their path, taking down Forces of Nature and Unversed in their way. Pit was way overjoyed to find a hot spring on the moon, which was able to heal all of their wounds when in it. "Ah… This feels so good." Asuna sighed as she knelt down to get more of her body in the water, "I haven't felt this relaxed in a long time." Yui sat down in the springs as well, relaxed.

"I admit, it feels great to be in here." Kirito agreed, "But we gotta get moving to Arlon and Vanitas. We don't have time for relaxing in here. Right, Pit?" He turned and sweat-dropped. Pit was floating on his back, with a content look on his face.

After persuading them, Kirito got the others out of the hot spring so they could continue forward. they slid down a sandy hole, entered through several room where they had to deal with tons of enemies before continuing. Finally, they found themselves in front of another door that stuck out from the others. _Arlon's quarters are just ahead._ Palutena told them, _Here, drink this. It'll heal you up._ Four drink fell to the floor near them out of nowhere. The team took one each and drunk it. It tasted really good, and it healed all of their wounds. Fully recovered, they continued into the next room.

* * *

**Chapter 4: Vanitas' Target**

The team entered through the doors, where they found Vanitas and Arlon the Serene waiting for them, both underneath a spotlight. Vanitas stood in front of Arlon, who was floating and sitting in midair. He was tall and lanky, and looked rather elderly. He had purple skin and white hair. His attire truly made him look like a butler. The black suit, pointed shoes, even a monocle over one eye. The only thing different from him to other butlers was the white, gauntlet-like gloves with purple flames emanating from under the sleeves.

"Vanitas!" barked Kirito, raising his Keyblade up to him. "Arlon!" growled Pit. "Congratulations! You made it all the way here." Vanitas answered with a sarcastic tone, producing his Keyblade. "Welcome. Please make yourself comfortable." Arlon greeted them, getting his feet on the ground and bowing to them, "It is my great honor to represent Mistress Viridi and the Forces of Nature."

"We'll take you both down!" Pit declared. "Heh, I didn't expect you to be such a team player, Vanitas." Kirito stated. "You know what? You're right, I don't like it…" he responded. To everyone's surprise, he whipped around and struck Arlon hard in the chest. Arlon's visible eye bulged out, damaged immensely from the attack. Vanitas twirled around and slammed his Keyblade onto his back, causing Arlon to fall to the floor. "Blast." he coughed, then he fell unconscious.

"There. All better." Vanitas stated, facing the team. "He just…defeated Arlon. And so easily!" Pit gasped. _But why would he do that?_ Palutena asked, _Aren't they suppose to be on the same side? _"I was never working for them." Vanitas answered, "Truth be told, Viridi had no idea that I was sending my Unversed from here. Arlon was gracious enough to allow me to stay here, and 'aid' the Forces of Nature."

"But why?" Asuna asked, stepping forward, "What would you gain out of this?" "A distraction." Vanitas replied, getting into battle position, which was a lot like Riku's, "While you four are away, Maleficent's Heartless should be attacking your goddess's temple. They should be there right now. Finding their way towards your 'Lady Palutena'." "What?!" gasped all four of them.

The four turned to the door, but it closed upon them, not allowing them to escape. They turned back to Vanitas, who held his position as he chuckled a bit. "Damn you, Vanitas!" growled Kirito as all four of the them raised their weapons, ready to fight.

Kirito charged head-long in first, bringing his Keyblade upon Vanitas. Vanitas blocked with his own, and shoved Kirito back. He tried slashing at him, but Kirito backed off as Asuna and Pit came flying in. Asuna fired a Blizzard spell while Pit fired a light arrow. It looked like they got him, but instead they hit an afterimage of him. Wondering where he went, Pit and Asuna looked around. Vanitas came from behind, slashed Pit and kicked Asuna, sending them in two different directions.

Yui hurriedly rushed over to Asuna's side as Vanitas walked up to her. "Looks like I got my eyes on the prize." he chuckled, holding his Keyblade forward. He shot a fireball at Asuna, who immediately slashed it to block it and got to her feet. "Me? You mean you were after me?" Asuna asked. "Of course." Vanitas answered, "After all…you were my target before." Asuna was shocked. This was the reason why the Unversed targeted her a lot more than the others. What Vanitas said when he was finding another target in her dimension. He was after her.

He attempted to strike Asuna while she was in a state of shock. "No!" Kirito barked, stepping in and blocking his attack. Kirito struggled to hold on while Vanitas tried knocking him down. "Kirito!" Asuna gasped, realizing the situation. She and Yui dove in and struck Vanitas hard with their weapons. The attack made him skid back, and he got hit by a triple barrage of light arrows from Pit.

Pit came to their side as they saw Vanitas brushing off his shoulders before raising his Keyblade at them. The four charged in, and the battle continued. Vanitas was plenty strong and swift, with quick flurry of attacks, dark thunder spells, fireballs, and afterimage counter strikes. The key was to keep an eye on his movements, strike when he paused between attacks, and after striking him, back off immediately.

"This battles gone on long enough." Kirito stated, focusing his power as his body started to glow. "_NORA!_" he shouted, and his body bursted with energy.

In a cutscene, Kirito's uniform changed from bottom to top. A blizzard storm formed an ice barrier in front. Kirito shattered the ice with his fist, making his appearance. He brought his fist back, and thumped both fists together as he casually stepped forward. "_Time for the hero to make his appearance!_" Kirito quoted, his Keyblade appearing in his hand as he hooked his fist out front.

Kirito charged in at Vanitas, Keyblade at hand. His attitude changed along with his fighting style. Kirito was smirking a bit more, and had a more optimistic vibe from him. His combos also changed as well; the moment he got in close, he tossed his Keyblade high, causing Vanitas to look at it go. Kirito used this distraction to get in close and unleash a punching combo with his bare fists, ending with a kick flip, sending Vanitas flying.

"Guys! Care to help a hero out with this?" Kirito asked, jumping back to grab his descending Keyblade, and firing an amplified Blizzard spell. "You got it!" Pit replied, running at Vanitas, who shot lightning bolts to block the Blizzard. He turned his bow into twin swords, and started slashing greatly at him, Asuna followed Pit's attack with a triple dose of Thunder. The third Thunder was canceled out by another afterimage, and Vanitas appeared behind Asuna. He was about to strike, but Yui dashed in with a Fan-Fair combo to stop the attack.

Kirito ran at Vanitas, his fists at the ready, and unleashed his ground Finisher, Icicle Drift, making Kirito be surrounded by an icy aura and ram himself into Vanitas. The attack froze Vanitas, and Asuna unleashed a storm of Thunder spells onto him.

Kirito went in and shattered the ice with his fists, then sent Vanitas flying into the air, unable to recover from Kirito's relentless assault. Kirito jumped after him and thumped his fists together, powering up his aerial Finisher, Powerchain Storm, unleashing a barrage of fists, flying all around Vanitas to strike him at every angle, finally ending by hammering Vanitas to the floor.

Kirito backed off as Vanitas laid there, seemingly lifeless. Kirito's Soul Drive wore down, and he reverted back to normal. "That was so amazing!" Pit gasped as he came up to Kirito's side, "It was like a different kind of you out there. More happy and…icy." "It kind of was." Kirito agreed, rubbing his head, "Man, Snow is a real strong physical fighter. I'm glad to have his Soul Drive."

Asuna walked forward to get a closer look at Vanitas. Yui walked at her side. "Why did he say he was after me?" Asuna asked, looking at the visor. "I don't know." Yui replied, "But at least we stopped him." Just then, Vanitas started to chuckle, startling the two. They backed off to see him flip onto his hands, spin around and land on his feet again. The four fighters were surprised to see how much stamina he had left.

"You put up quite a show there, Kirito." Vanitas acknowledged, forming a black portal behind him, "I'll have to keep an eye on you as well. Who knows; I might change my target to you instead." "I'd like to see you try!" Kirito growled.

Vanitas looked to the spot where Arlon laid, raised his hand, and fired a fireball at him. Arlon grunted as he was sent flying over the edge of the platform and out of sight. The others gasped as they saw this. Vanitas turned his back to them, walked through the portal, and disappeared.

Suddenly, the ground started to shake from under their feet. The lights were starting to go out, being replaced by signs of fire. "What's going on?" Asuna shakily asked. "The Lunar Sanctum's falling apart!" Yui answered, "Without Arlon's power, this place is unable to sustain itself. We need to get out of here!"

"Palutena!" Pit shouted. _I'm here, Pit._ Palutena answered, _I'll get you out of there!_ Pit's wings started to glow as Kirito, Asuna and Yui produced their wings. Together the four flew upwards and out of a newly made crack in the wall, leading them outside. "Lunar Sanctum defused!" Pit cheered. "And the Unversed will haunt this world no more!" Kirito exclaimed.

The team looked back at the Lunar Sanctum. It was literally falling apart, broken pieces flying all over the place. As the team watched, an explosion on the side of the base drew their attention. Something fast and green shot itself out of the broken base, shattering through the exterior wall. _What's that…THING breaking free?_ Palutena asked. "Dunno." Kirito answered, "Yui, do you know." "I'm not sure." Yui replied, "But I can tell it's alive." The being turned itself and rocketed towards the surface below.

"I'm sure it's nothing." Pit replied. _I'm not so sure._ Palutena retorted, _But Viridi's forces are still a threat. What's more, hundreds of Heartless are attacking Skyworld. I need to get you all back here right away._ "Let's hope Sora took care of most of them." Kirito hoped as the four were being enveloped by Palutena's light, teleporting them back to her temple.

* * *

**Chapter 5: Vs. Behemoth**

This moment took place while Kirito's group entered the Lunar Sanctum. Down in Skyworld, the centurions were scrambling to take out all of the Heartless that had appeared around the place. In front of Palutena's temple, Sora, Donald and Goofy were rushing out to a scene of total warfare. The two centurions that were guarding the gate before were knocked out. Several Heartless stood in front of them, ready to charge into the temple itself.

"What going on?!" squawked Donald. _Looks like the Underworld are taking advantage of Pit's absence to attack Skyworld._ said Palutena. The trio looked behind them and around them to see where she was at. "Where are you, Lady Palutena?" Sora called out. _I'm still inside the temple._ Palutena answered, _Did you forget that I gave you the power to hear my voice or any other voice? _"Oh, right." Sora remembered, chuckled in embarrassment.

"C'mon! We gotta protect the temple!" Goofy declared. "Right!" agreed Sora, pulling out his Keyblade, "Pit told us to protect Lady Palutena, and that's what we're gonna do!" Donald and Goofy whipped out their weapons as well, and the trio charged ahead at the Heartless.

It was composed of the same sort as before; Shadow and Air Pirate Heartless. There were also now Tornado Steps and Soldier Heartless, and leading it was an Invisible Heartless. Sora, Donald and Goofy were taking out the enemies left and right, and Sora targeted the Invisible. The Heartless shot dark energy orbs at Sora, who avoided them as best as he could, and sliced right through the Invisible. He came from behind and sliced it several times from the back, making it disappear.

More Heartless appeared, along with new creatures; ones without Heartless symbols. "What's with those floating eyes and mouths with tentacles?" Sora asked as he continued to fight. _Those monsters are part of the Underworld Army._ Palutena explained, _It looks like Hades is bringing in his forces into the mix of Heartless._

_ Of course._ a male voice replied, _After all, what better way to get the job done than to add a little more chaos to the mix._ "Who said that?" Sora asked. _Hades._ Palutena answered. "That voice is Hades?" Sora gasped, taking out another Underworld monster.

_You have quite the price on your head, pretty Palutena._ Hades continued, _Honestly, I thought when Pitty Pat went away, I though it would be perfect to finally get you. Of course, I didn't expect these 'otherworlders' to be much of a problem. I guess I should've been more cautious when my book of foreboding weapons told me about the dangers of the Keyblade. _"The Keyblade's in a book?" Goofy asked, slamming upon two Shadows. "I wonder what library has this book?" Sora asked casually.

_What do you mean I have a price on my head? _Palutena demanded. _Just the fact that these people, who were gracious enough to grant me access to their army of Heartless, said that I must bring you to them._ Hades responded, _I know it's a bit of a stretch, but these Heartless certainly are worth it. Just look at how much devastation they can bring. _"Which is why we're here to stop you!" shouted Donald. "We will not let you cause any more havoc in Skyworld! And we will not let you take Lady Palutena! Captain Pit's orders!" yelled Sora.

_Oh, you are quite the feisty human. Even more so than Pitty._ Hades responded, _Very well then. Let's see how long you can last against my Underworld Army and Heartless invasion!_ More Heartless and Underworld creatures appeared. Donald and Goofy continued to struggle, but Sora was full-fledge diving into the fight.

Sora entered his Limit Form, and started striking hard with his series of attacks, striking all of the enemies with his Limit techniques. Wave after wave kept coming at the trio, but they didn't back down from the fight. Sora, Donald and Goofy kept striking down every opponent that came at them.

After several waves, the trio stood there in battle position, waiting for the next to come. _You three are starting to become a nuisance. You're just as enduring at Pitty. _Hades acknowledged, _But lets see what you can do if I send in the big guns to stop you…_

A rumbling from underneath the trio's feet got their attention. The rumbling stopped after a few second, only for a monster to leap into the air and land heavily onto the stone grounds of the temple. It was large, purple, and it was on all fours. It had two-clawed feet on both front and back, larges curved tusks that came from its' lower jaw, a black horn, yellow eyes, and a Heartless symbol on its' chest.

"Wah! Not this one!" Donald squawked in fear. "I remember this Heartless." Goofy recalled, "It's the uh…Be…Behe…" "Behemoth!" Sora finished, raising his Keyblade. The monster let out a roar of fury, ready to face the trio. The Behemoth made its' move by leaping at the trio, who dispersed as it crashed into the ground.

_Sounds like you've fought this thing before._ Palutena assumed. "Ugh! Don't remind me." Sora sighed, "It was so long ago, back when the Final Keyhole was unlocked. It was just me, Donald and Goofy back then." "But I remember that its' horn was its' weakness." Goofy recalled. "But we have to get to it, first." Donald told the two. _I believe jumping onto its' back might be a start._ Palutena suggested. "Oh right!" Sora remembered, "Then let's get to it!"

Sora made his move, leaping onto the stationary Behemoth. He got onto its' back with Goofy in tow, and got to the head. They started striking heavily onto the Behemoth's horn, damaging it continuously. "It's working!" Donald cheered. _Even a giant monster like this has its' weak spots._ Hades sighed, _Are there any beings that can't be taken down?_

The team continued to attack the Behemoth, who had begun charging up energy in its' tusks, then firing a rain of energy balls down upon the trio. Sora and Goofy leapt off the Behemoth's back as Donald scrambled to avoid all of the fire. "Gotta get onto its' back again!" Sora declared, running back at it again. Just as he drew in close, the Behemoth leapt high into the air, landing close to the temple doors.

"Oh, no you don't!" barked Sora, charging after the Behemoth. Donald raised his staff and brought down a Thunder spell upon its' horn. This didn't even phase the beast as it stood there, facing the doors. _Hurry, Sora!_ Palutena told Sora. "I know! I gotta stop it from getting at you!" Sora responded. _Not just that, I had those doors remodeled._ Palutena corrected him, _And with those horns, it'll scratch them badly._ "You're more worried about your decor than your own life?" Sora asked. _Even a goddess needs her home to look presentable. _Palutena said defiantly.

Sora got onto the back of the Behemoth again, and started striking the Heartless heavily with his Keyblade. "Back off, you overgrown monstrosity!" shouted Sora, flipping over the horn in front of the Behemoth's face, and struck it hard, causing it to skid away from the door and collapse to the ground. Donald and Goofy went to work, hitting the horn with everything they got. Sora rushed in to join the fray.

The Behemoth recovered from the attack, and unleashed a thunder attack from all around it, causing the trio to go flying. The monster roared in fury as the trio got to their feet again. Sora used Cure to heal all of them. "We have got to take it out!" squawked Donald. "I still can't use a Drive form since I used the Limit Form before." growled Sora. "Hey! I think I can do a Limit Break with ya, Sora." Goofy stated. "Really?" Sora asked, surprise, "Then let's give it a shot!"

Sora used an Ether as Donald unleashed his attacks on the Behemoth to give them time. Once Sora was prepared, he and Goofy got together and raised their weapons. They started to glow, and they went into the 'Knocksmash' Limit Break.

Goofy tossed his shield into the air, to which Sora smacked it like a baseball batter, hitting it continuously at the horn on the Behemoth's head. The duo then followed with a Duo Raid, sending their weapons flying at the Heartless several times more, damaging it even further. Finally, Sora sent Goofy flying like a rocket at the Behemoth's horn, damaging it immensely until finally, the horn broke off.

The trio got together again as they faced the stumbling Heartless, who was unable to bear all the damage, and fell to the ground. A large, crystalized heart came out of its' body, and disappeared into the air along with the body. "Hooray!" cheered Donald. "We did it!" whooped Goofy. "Team Sora: one. Heartless: zip!" Sora counted. _Nice job, Sora._ Palutena complimented him, _I'm glad you came to stop this. _"Hey, I'm just glad you're safe." Sora responded.

The Heartless and Underworld Army were in retreat, falling below the clouds again. "They're runnin' away." Goofy pointed out. "Looks like Hades recognizes how strong we are." Sora stated. _I have to admit, you are a pesky fly, even if you don't have wings._ Hades stated, _But you will eventually be swatted down, one way or another._ "Just try and swat me!" barked Sora.

"Sora!" shouted Kirito's voice. Sora, Donald and Goofy turned to see Kirito, Asuna, Yui and Pit race out of the temple, joining up with him. "Hey, guys!" Sora greeted them, "When did you get here?" "A little while ago." Kirito responded, looking around. "I heard that there was a bunch of Heartless here. But it seems like you took care of it."

"That wasn't even a challenge!" Sora stated strongly, punching the air, "So what about the Lunar Sanctum? Did you destroy it?" "Absolutely!" Pit replied eagerly. "Actually, Vanitas stopped Arlon, who powered the base." Asuna corrected him, "We just gave Vanitas a beating. He escaped, but it looks like the Unversed won't be as bad as it was before." "That's good to hear."

_But we have a more serious issue on hand._ Palutena told them, _Come inside, so I can explain better._ "Roger." Sora and Pit responded in unison. Together, they led the team into the temple doors. As they did so, three magic orbs appeared before Kirito, Asuna and Sora. "Those are Fire Elements." Yui explained, "You now can use Fire magic." "Good thing, too." Kirito answered, taking the orb. With that, the group entered the temple, and closed the doors behind them.

They entered Palutena's room, where the goddess herself was waiting for them. "So what's next on the agenda?" Kirito asked, folding his arms and awaiting orders. "I'm afraid I have really bad news." Palutena told them, "Hades has sent a private message to me personally." "What did it say?" Pit asked. "After removing all of his puns, I was able to decipher this; that he will send an even bigger army to attack Skyworld and the human world within the next two hours, one that not even we could stop." Palutena explained, "And the only way he would stop it is if I turn myself in."

"Okay, either Hades is obsessed with you, or Maleficent is getting really serious on wanting to get you. The question is why?" Asuna asked. "I don't know." Palutena answered, "But for whatever reason, he is serious on getting to me." "Even if you're the Goddess of Light, there's no way Maleficent would want to destroy you this much!" Yui stated, "There's got to be a good reason why she wants you." Everybody thought the same thing.

"Regardless, if Hades and Maleficent attack Skyworld with a huge army, then there's no way we can stop it." Sora pointed out. "You're right." Palutena agreed, "Then there's only one way I can stop this." "No, Lady Palutena!" Pit cried abruptly, "If you turn yourself in, then the humans won't have anyone to protect them. Plus, I won't be able to help without your Power of Flight either." "I know." Palutena replied, "But if I don't turn myself in, then both Skyworld and the human world will be in grave danger."

"There's…just GOTTA be a way to prevent this!" Pit stated. The all eight people in the room started to think of a plan. Kirito was deep in thought, thinking through every possibility of stopping the attack. He looked up at everyone else. Sora, Donald and Pit were deep in thought. Goofy was scratching his head as he looked upwards. Yui was scratching her chin, hoping to find a solution. And finally, he looked to Asuna and Palutena, who were in the exact same position of thought.

"Wait…" Kirito muttered, looking at the two, "Maybe…we could do that." The others looked up at him. "Do what?" Sora asked. Kirito gave a confident smirk. "I think we should go with Palutena's idea; we're turning her in." Everyone gave huge looks of surprise as Kirito smile grew even wider.

* * *

**Chapter 6: The Bait & Switch**

Palutena sent the message back to Hades. She agreed to his terms, and said that she would be waiting out in the same spot where the six heroes appeared in this world. Hades responded that he would be bringing Maleficent's lackey, Pete, to pick her up in fifteen minutes. Pit and Kirito escorted Palutena over to the meeting place, and waited there for Palutena's pickup. They stood there, waiting, while Palutena stood still, her eyes shadowed as she looked down.

After fifteen minutes, Pete arrived to the scene, a half a dozen Air Pirates at his side. "Well, it looks like you didn't chicken out at the last second!" laughed Pete, "I gotta say, you look like a real gem. But like all gems, they gotta be stolen away!" "What're you gonna do to her?" demanded Kirito. "That ain't none of your business." Pete responded. "It is my business!" barked Kirito, stepping forward. "Lady Palutena must not be harmed, you understand?" said Pit, also stepping forward.

Palutena stepped forward, passed all of the Heartless, and right next to Pete. "Right this way, your godliness." Pete said, opening a portal before him. Palutena looked back at the other two, then stepped forward into the portal. Pete walked in afterwards, then turned to his Heartless and said, "Make sure they don't follow us!" The Air Pirates responded by attacking Pit and Kirito, who had their weapons at the ready. They took care of all of them easily, but the portal had already disappeared. "Let's get moving." Kirito told Pit. "Right." Pit responded.

In the Underworld, Pete led Palutena along a dark path, with dark red emanating from below. They reached an open platform, where they walked to the center of it. At the edge of the platform, Maleficent stood there, waiting for them. Just then, an immense, humanoid, demon-like deity appeared before them. He had purple skin and red tattoos, wild red, green and pink colored hair, and black eyes. He wore a rather unusual-looking robe that was made out of darkness and fire. He was Hades, Lord of the Underworld.

"So, you're the Goddess of Light." Maleficent assumed. "It's been a long time since we got to meet like this, Pretty Palutena." said Hades, "In fact, I don't ever remember meeting you like this. We're you always this tiny?" "Not all gods and goddesses are as big as you, Hades." Palutena responded, here eyes still shadowed, "But even one so small can topple you down."

"Oho! I'd like to see you try to face me." chuckled Hades, eyeing her, "Speaking of which, I noticed your hair is a lot shorter than I remember." "What's wrong with a girl like me getting a trim?" Palutena asked, "I should look my best, after all." "I'll never understand the reasons why you women fuss over your hair." Hades stated, "Honestly, do you want to look your best before you die?" Palutena said nothing.

"Enough of this squabbling!" barked Maleficent, stepping forward, "Time to get what I want!" Maleficent stated. She raised her staff, and pointed it at Palutena. "Before you do whatever it is you're planning to do to me, let me remind you that you gave me your word that you would not hurt Skyworld nor the human world with the army, Hades."

Hades boomed with laughter. "You actually bought that?" Hades asked, "Really, there's no need for such petty deals. The army was a fake! Maleficent was quite ingenious in making that plan. Give a big enough bait, and the fish will be swimming your way!" Palutena looked down to one side. "I see. So this was all a trap." Palutena stated. "That's right!" Pete replied, patting her shoulder, "Now it's time for you to pay the price for being here."

Maleficent raised her staff, the green orb starting to glow. Suddenly, a blast of dark energy appeared from it, hitting Palutena. The goddess rose into the air, crying out in pain as she squirmed in the aura of dark energy. Maleficent continued this attack for a second, then she stopped it. Palutena fell to the floor, her face to the ground, panting in pain.

Maleficent gave a quizzical look. "What is the meaning of this?" she demanded, "I was sure that this goddess would have the key. Where is it?" "You…want a key?" Palutena panted, raising her head, "What key…are you talking about?" "The Key of Darkness." Maleficent replied, "There is more than one, and you possess one of them." "Seems to me like your research just exploded in your face." Hades replied, "Then again, something does seem off about her. She doesn't show that…godly sort of feel to her." "What?" Maleficent asked, turning to Palutena, who got to her feet.

Palutena stood up straight, and revealed her shadowed eyes. They weren't her green eyes, but hazel eyes. Asuna's eyes. "Sorry, but the only key I have is this one." she said, revealing her Suite Harmony Keyblade. Pete, Maleficent and Hades were shocked beyond belief.

Just then, Palutena's light appeared from behind, and Sora, Kirito, Yui, Donald, Goofy and Pit made their appearance. "How is this possible?!" Maleficent demanded. "What's goin' on here?" Pete demanded. "What's goin' on is that you got tricked." Kirito answered, stepping forward next to Asuna, facing the stunned Maleficent, "I gotta admit, I wasn't sure if it would work, but it did. I saw how Asuna and Palutena were quite similar figures, so add a change of clothes, die the hair, and voila! Instant duplicate." _Not as good as the real thing, but it sure worked on you._ Palutena's voice followed.

"A HUMAN outsmarted me?" Hades asked, "Maybe I'm losing my touch." "You said that I fell for your little trick, baiting me with a fake army?" Asuna recalled, "Well, it would seem that the catch you were getting was swapped. So sorry." "Following Asuna's position was easy enough for Yui and Palutena." Sora added. "And now that I know that this whole army was a fake, we don't have any more business with you, Hades!" Pit finished, raising his bow, "Prepare to meet your judgement, Hades!"

"I think not!" Hades responded, waving his hands. "Heartless! Pete! Destroy these vermin!" Maleficent ordered. A bunch of Underworld Army and Heartless appeared around the platform. Pete got in front of the team, and thumped his fists together. "You lousy punks! I'm the one who's suppose to trick others around here!" Pete hissed. Maleficent whipped around and disappeared in green flames. "I'll just sit back and watch this show." Hades stated, moving aways and sitting in midair with his legs crossed.

The team dispersed all around, taking on the Heartless and Underworld Army. Sora and Pit directed their attention towards Pete, charging at him with their weapons raised. Pete bowled a bomb at them, but the two quickly dodged the attack. Pit came in with a storm of slashes, while Sora came in from behind with his combo attack from his Keyblade. The two backed off as Pete made a tantrum. The two waited for his tantrum to be over to continue their attack.

Kirito and Yui were attacking one side of the platform while Asuna, Donald and Goofy took on the other side. While they kept taking out all of the Heartless and Underworld Army, more kept appearing after them. "Jeez, this Underworld's more dangerous than the Underworld in Hercules' world!" cried Asuna. "Except this place doesn't have a curse added to it." Kirito responded. "Actually, the next installment of the Underworld will be adding a curse to it." Hades explained, "Once it's complete, I do hope you'll come by to see." "Think I'll pass." Kirito replied.

Sora and Pit were definitely wearing down Pete, who could only deliver some minor damage to them. "Pit, let's take out the trash together!" Sora suggested. "You got it." Pit responded. Sora and Pit raised their weapons together, making their bodies glow. "Let's go!" Sora shouted. "For Lady Palutena!" Pit declared. The two entered their Limit Break 'Skyworld Assault'.

A dozen archer centurions magically appeared around them, Pit and Sora looking around at the forces before nodding to one another. Their attack combos were composed of 'Rain of Arrows', in which Pit ordered the centurions to fire arrows into the sky, only for them to fall around the stage, hurting the enemies.

Then there was 'Diving Angels', in which Sora ordered the centurions to charge around him and Pit in a circle, creating a golden ring that damaged nearby enemies. They continued these set of commands, striking one after another, quickly knocking away all of the Heartless, Underworld Army, and Pete.

Their final attack 'Glam Blaster', in which the centurions dispersed, and an image of Palutena appeared above the group. She raised her staff, and pointed down below, firing a shining blast down upon them. Pit and Sora jumped out of the way as the shot hit the ground, sending a large blast radius around the area. Once the attack was over, the duo came together, sweating her foreheads as Palutena smirked and disappeared.

All of the Heartless and Underworld Army had been taken care of. Pete was on his butt, dazed from the attack. The team got together again to face the large deity of Hades. "Doooh! You pipsqueaks win this time. But I'll be back, and we'll settle this!" "Anytime, any day." Sora responded as Pete got up and disappeared into the portal.

"Well, that was rather boring." Hades sighed as he came in closer. "Hades!" Pit growled. "Since you took the time to actually come down here, I might as well destroy you all and take your souls!" Hades stated, reaching his hand out to the group. "Uh-oh! We better run!" Goofy cried. The team ran away as Hades' hand ever drew closer.

"Lady Palutena! Get us out of here!" Pit cried. _You got it! _Palutena answered, and she shined her light upon the group, and they teleported just as Hades hand fell upon them. He lifted his curled fist and opened it up. Not one of the team was there. "Those Keyblade wielders put on quite the show." he stated, "But I wonder what this 'Key of Darkness' Maleficent is so anxious about. Anything that is dark and dangerous sounds like something I should have as well."

* * *

**Chapter 7: Take to the Skies**

The team was back in Palutena's main room. All six heroes faced Palutena, with Pit facing the group as well. Asuna reverted her hair and garments back to normal. "Thank you so much for all that you did." Palutena thanked them, "If you hadn't arrived, I wouldn't know what we could do."

"Don't relax yet." Kirito warned her, "Maleficent is still after this 'Key of Darkness' you somehow possess." "Lady Palutena, do you know what kind of key they're talking about?" Pit asked. "I'm not too sure of it myself." Palutena responded, "But whatever it is, we can't allow Maleficent OR Hades get their hands on it." "Or Vanitas." Yui added, "He's still out there."

Asuna expression changed as she looked down, wondering. Why was Vanitas so interested in her? Why was she targeted by him before? She didn't know him long time ago, nor even about the Keyblade. She couldn't think of any reason why Vanitas would target her.

"Asuna?" Sora asked, bringing her back to reality. "Huh? Wha?" Asuna started, looking at the group. "You okay, Asuna?" Kirito asked. "Yeah, I'm fine." Asuna lied. "Anyways, we should get movin'." Goofy suggested. "Right. We need more information." Kirito agreed, "At least we now know what they're after. But we need to know what those 'Keys of Darkness' are."

Sora and Pit turned to each other. "Stay safe, will ya, Pit?" Sora asked. "I sure will." Pit replied, "And you do the same. Hopefully you'll come back with a set of wings so we can fly together." "I'll try to find some." Sora chuckled, "In the meantime, guard Lady Palutena with your life." "As I always do!" Pit responded, raising his bow.

"Sora." Palutena got his attention, "Before you leave, I have something that could come in handy." she held out her open palm, and in it was a keychain. It had two gold links on one end of a red cord, and one more link attached with the medallion, a pair of angel wings. "A new Keyblade!" Sora cheered, taking the keychain and looking at it. Yui examined it as well. "It's called 'Shining Wing'." Yui explained, "It's got great all around stats, and it adds additional strikes to aerial combos." Sora pocketed it, saving it for some other time.

"You know, it kinda felt funny when I was dressed up as Palutena." Asuna stated. "How so?" Palutena asked. "I never though I could actually wear the same size dress as a goddess." Asuna said amusingly. "Now that I think about it, you do act like Palutena as well." Yui stated, "You could actually replace her at some point." "Now let's not get ahead of ourselves." Palutena warned her. "I could never replace Palutena." Asuna responded, "I'm not that childish." "Hey!" barked Palutena. Everyone laughed at this, including Asuna and Palutena.

"Well, we really should get going!" Sora stated as Yui called for the Gummi ship. "Take care guys!" Pit told them. "May your journey be safe." Palutena added. They nodded in response as the light from the Gummi ship came down upon them, and they teleported away, going onward to the next world.

* * *

**Well, that's another episode down. I'll have the Keyblade picture and Sora's Sky Pirate Form appearing some time this week. However this story also brings out more questions: Who told Palutena about the Keyblade? Why is Vanitas truly targeting Asuna? What are the Keys of Darkness? All will be revealed as the story continues. Leave a review, tell your friends, and wait patiently for the next episode.**

* * *

**Next Time on SAK II:**

**Sora: Why is everything so big?**

**Yui: I think WE just turned small!**

**Asuna: And why does this girl claim us to be 'Borrowers'?**

**Yui: She seems overjoyed that we are like her.**

**Sora: She's inviting us on a 'Borrowing' mission! Let's go!**

**Author: Next Time on Sword Art Kingdom II: Dimensional Bonds: Borrower's Borough! Secret Friendships!**

******Sora, Kirito & Asuna: Let's unlock the path to our bonded hearts!**


	7. Jiminy's Journal: Skyworld

**Here is the profiles of the characters found in Skyworld:**

* * *

Pit

Origin: Kid Icarus

_Angel guardian and captain of Palutena's Army. Unable to fly on his own, Pit relies on Palutena's Power of Flight to soar in the air. He aids Sora, Kirito, Asuna and friends when they came to stop the Heartless and Unversed from kidnapping Palutena. He is spirited, upbeat and __courageous, yet fool-hearty and a bit of a ditz. Kirito compares Pit a lot to Sora's personality._

* * *

Palutena

Origin: Kid Icarus

_Rightful ruler of Skyworld and Goddess of Light. She protects the humans in the world below from any threats being brought upon them, whether it is the Underworld Army, or the Forces of Nature, with the support of Pit. She was targeted by both Maleficent and Vanitas, claiming she has a 'Key to Darkness', but Pit, Sora, Kirito, Asuna and friends stopped them. Wise and kind, though a bit playful and __mischievous._

* * *

Hades

Origin: Kid Icarus

_Lord of the Underworld and antagonist to Pit and Palutena. He sided with Maleficent, joining her Heartless with his army in an attempt to capture Palutena, but Pit, Sora, Asuna, Kirito and friends stopped them. Hades thrives on chaos, and is cruel, though he has a sense of humor and is a bit of a showman._

* * *

Arlon the Serene

Origin: Kid Icarus Uprising

_One of Viridi's commanders to the Forces of Nature. He is also the defender and power source of the Lunar Sanctum. He sided along with Vanitas at first, but Vanitas betrayed him, and defeated him. He is calm and respectful, and shows signs of a butler attitude, though he doesn't mind getting his hands dirty._

* * *

Viridi

Origin: Kid Icarus Uprising

_Goddess of Nature and all living things, and leader of the Forces of Nature. Personality and character remain a mystery._

* * *

Dark Pit

Origin: Kid Icarus Uprising

_Sometimes called Pittoo, he is Pit's darker double. He is a loner, and only wishes to fight and defeat Pit, claiming him as HIS double. His attempt to beat him on Lunar Sanctum Failed, and he fled. He is opposite to Pit's cheerful personality, and is arrogant and cocky._

* * *

**I should have the pictures of Kirito's NORA form, the new Keyblade, and hopefully Sora's Sky Pirate Form done soon and placed on my Deviant Art page.**


	8. Borrower's Borough! Secret Friendship!

**Here's the next story. It doesn't have as much combat as the others, but it makes up for some other features like the Space Gate, and the adventures. Just enjoy yourself as you read this story!**

_(I do not own Kingdom Hearts or Sword Art Online. All I do is form my imagination from both stories, and share it with the world!)_

* * *

**Chapter 1: A Foxy Fight in the Gate**

The Gummi Ship had just left Pit's World, and was moving onto the next. "So where to, Yui?" Goofy asked, hands at the steering wheel. "It seems like there's a crossroad in our path." Yui replied, looking up at the screen. "Both are blocked by gates."

"Can you tell what the worlds are from here?" Asuna asked. "Well, I can't tell WHAT the worlds are." Yui answered, "I can tell you what kind of dangers lie in each of them, both the gates and worlds. One of the gates has a powerful enemy within it, but the world contains minor amount of enemies. The others gate isn't as dangerous, but the ones in the world are."

"So it's basically choose where to fight the strong ones; in space or in the world." Kirito stated, turning to Sora and Asuna, "Where do you guys want to go? Personally, I prefer the one with the strong enemies in the world." "But it might be too much for us to handle." Asuna reminded him, "However, the Gummi Ship is well enduring, so I say lets take the other gate."

"As much as I'd like to take down more Heartless, I have to agree with Asuna." Sora added, "Besides, we could toughen ourselves at the world with lesser enemies, and that world isn't gonna disappear from us anytime soon." "I hope your right." Kirito sighed, "Okay, then. Yui, looks like the votes are in. We're taking the strong gate." "I'll set the coordinates in to get us there." Yui stated, typing at the computer. With that, the Gummi ship changed course and went towards the next gate.

_(Cue Opening song)_

It took about a half hour, but the team found themselves at the front of the giant gate. "I'm picking up a lot of activity beyond this gate." Yui stated, "We better be careful." "Right." Kirito understood. "Let's take off!" Sora declared, and the Gummi ship started to go in.

"Hold it!" Asuna stopped them, "Shouldn't we go in prepared? You know, like upgrading the Gummi ship?" "You have a point." Kirito agreed, "Hey, maybe we can use the Highwind Mark 8 again." "Let's call Chip and Dale." Goofy suggested.

Yui tapped at the keyboard, and the engineering station appeared. Chip and Dale were there, along with Leafa, who was talking to them. "Leafa!" called Kirito. The three turned to the screen. "Kirito!" Leafa answered back, racing up to the screen, "You guys are safe! Thank goodness." "You, too." Kirito responded, smiling curiously.

"What can we do for ya?" Chip asked as he and his brother appeared on the screen. "We need to improve our ship for a gate." Yui explained, "Do you think you could send in the Highwind Mark 8?" "Sorry, but we can't." Chip replied. "We've already taken it apart." Dale finished.

"WHAAAT?!" gasped the six heroes. "Sorry, but it was for a good reason." Leafa pleaded, "We're trying to make a second Gummi ship, and some of the parts were on the Highwind." "Why do you need a second ship?" Sora asked. "So that me, Riku, Kairi and Recon can go out into this dimension." Leafa answered, "We can't just stay here while you guys are risking your necks. We wanna help!"

"Are you sure you can manage out here?" Donald asked. "We don't want you guys to get into trouble." Goofy added. "We'll be fine." Leafa replied. "We made some improvements on this Gummi ship so it won't be damaged like yours was." Dale explained. "So like it or not, brother, we're gonna explore this dimension, and that's final!" Leafa stated defiantly.

Kirito sighed, then looked up at her. "Okay, guess I can't stop you. But can you at least go to the town of Yusnaan first? I'd feel comfortable if you go there." "Yeah, you can meet Light, Snow, Vaan and the others." Sora recommended, "They're really nice guys. Plus, since Kairi, Riku and you are Keyblade wielders, I'm sure they'll support you." "Sure. I'll stop off there." Leafa responded.

"But back to the subject at hand; what are we gonna do about OUR Gummi ship?" Asuna asked. "Don't worry. We still have pieces and blueprints to improve your Gummi ship." Chip assured them. "I have one right here!" Dale replied, holding up a sheet of paper with blueprints of a ship, "It's a lesser version of the Highwind, but it will work!" "Good. We'll take that then." Yui replied. "Give us a minute to transform your ship." Chip and Dale said in unison, rushing off screen.

The team waited, then they heard Chip and Dale cry, "Here you go!" The team was engulfed by a bright light like before, and suddenly the ship transformed. It was red with yellow stripes, orange thrusters, white fins, and the lasers were right beneath it. Docked to either side were the Teeny Ships, Wingedge #1 & #2.

"This is the Mark 3 version of the Highwind." Chip explained. "It still packs a punch, but it isn't as strong as the Mark 8 version." Dale ended, "But it still has the Wingedge Teeny Ships." "This'll work out. Thanks!" Asuna thanked them.

"We should get back to work." Chip stated. "We need to finish the second Gummi ship as soon as possible." Dale finished. "Good luck, you guys." Leafa waved at them, "I'll see you soon." "Thanks, and see you soon, too!" Sora replied as the team waved to them. "Happy flying!" chimed the chipmunks before the screen went blank.

"Let's go! Battle stations!" Donald declared. Sora and Asuna went towards the back to board the Teeny Ships. Donald went to the steering wheel while Goofy took control of the main turret. Yui was now able to handle the main computer on her own, guiding the team. Kirito decided to sit at the captain's seat. "Everyone ready?" Kirito asked the group. The team nodded. "Ready!" called Sora and Asuna. "Then let's go in!" Kirito declared, and Donald guided the ship into the gate.

Immediately, they were introduced to a series of crossfires of which they haven't experienced before. Donald was guiding the ship, dodge rolling and avoiding all the fire. Asuna and Sora followed the Highwind, avoiding the fire as well. "What the hell is going on?!" Kirito cried as the team made a dive.

They were in an asteroid field, and there were Heartless everywhere they looked. However, it wasn't just them that was fighting. There were blue and white combat ships flying around the place; four in total, protecting a larger space ship. The smaller ships were made for one pilot, but were fast, powerful, and performed well.

The Highwind curved upwards and shot down several spacial Heartless. "Looks like we ended up in a battle of some kind!" Goofy exclaimed. "Gee, ya think?!" Asuna's voice called out. "But who's fighting the Heartless?" Sora asked.

Just then, one of the ships flew right next to them, lowering its' speed to match theirs. On the monitor, a face of a fox character made its' appearance. "This is Fox McCloud of the Star Fox Team." the fox introduced himself, "Identify yourself." Yui, Donald and Goofy all looked to Kirito, who saw them staring and decided to respond.

"I am Kirito, and I am one of the leaders of this ship." Kirito answered, standing up to face Fox, "We are trying to unlock the keyhole from within this gate." "Keyhole?" Fox asked, "I don't know what your talking about." "Well regardless of that information, our second priority is to take out any Heartless that would cause harm to anyone." Kirito continued, "If you're fighting the Heartless, then please allow us to help." "You want to help out?" questioned Fox. "Well I know one of us wouldn't stay away from people in need." Kirito stated, turning his head to the Teeny ship Sora was in.

Just then, more Heartless raced towards them. "Watch out!" cried Yui, seeing them coming at the two ships. Both the Highwind and Fox's ship started shooting lasers at them, blasting them away. "Looks like your ship can handle against these things." Fox acknowledged, "Okay then, give us a hand here. I'll have your ship connected with the others if that's okay with you." "Thanks." Kirito thanked him, and the monitor went blank.

The two ships split up, and started shooting at all of the Heartless. Fox's face appeared on the monitor again. "Attention, Star Fox team. We have some extra support with us." he told the rest of the team. "They are willing to help us out, so don't engage them."

The face shifted on the monitor to reveal a blue, bird-like face." "You sure we can trust them, Fox?" he asked. "I'm sure, Falco." Fox replied, "These guys don't mean harm to us, only these creatures they call the Heartless." "Well, alright." Falco replied, "But they better keep up." The screen went blank again.

The team started shooting at more Heartless, seeing Falco and Fox's ships fighting all around the area, protecting the right side of the larger ship, to which Fox called the Great Fox. Their mission was to guide the ship through the asteroid fields. Every time someone was talking, their face would appear on the monitor before them. The team continued firing at the Heartless, stopping any that got too close to them or the Star Fox Team. Sora and Asuna dived all around the Gummi ship, taking out any opposing enemies along with it. Something about the Heartless was a bit different, more like they knew where they were going, and they knew what to do.

Just then, a new face appeared on the monitor, an elderly rabbit face. "This is Peppy here." he said, "It looks like Krystal and Slippy are in trouble on their side. Go help them out." "Roger that." Fox replied as his and Falco's ships appeared in front of them, "Falco, stay here to protect this side. Me and Kirito's team will go help out the others." "You got it." Falco respond, and his ship steered away from them.

"Okay, follow my Arwing." Fox ordered Kirito, and the team followed Fox's ship up and over the Great Fox, shooting down more Heartless in the process. Once on the left side of the Great Fox, they saw two more Arwings being chased down by the Heartless. "Krystal! Slippy! We're on our way!" Fox called out to them.

A new face replaced Fox's, a blueish-purple haired vixen. "We could use all the help we can here, Fox." she said. Another new face, one of a toad, appeared on the screen. "We can't shake these things!" he cried. "Don't worry. We'll rescue you guys!" Fox replied, "Guys, I'll take care of the ones keeping Krystal busy. Do something about the ones chasing Slippy." "Roger that!" Kirito responded.

The two ships separated, and the Highwind started pursuing a group of Heartless that were attacking Slippy's Arwing. "I don't know who you guys are, but please help me!" Slippy begged them. "One rescue, comin' up!" Sora responded, and the team started firing down all of the Heartless. More tried to replace them, but their demise was just the same. Krystal's Arwing came in their path, being pursued by more Heartless and Fox. The team decided to level down some of the Heartless chasing her.

Once Fox and the team cleared the Heartless, the four ships got together again. "Thanks a lot, you guys." Slippy sighed in relief. "I appreciate your help." Krystal stated. "No problem." Sora responded. "I'm just glad you two are safe. Especially you, Krystal." Fox told them. Asuna couldn't help but smile, seeing the chemistry between the two.

As the team guided themselves in front of the Great Fox, Yui started, "Hey, guys? I was thinking; doesn't it seem strange how well coordinated the Heartless were?" "You do have a point." Kirito agreed, "Heartless are mindless beings. The fact that they fought so intelligently is out of character." "You're right." Goofy replied, "Maybe someone's controllin' them."

"Mehehehe!" chuckled a new voice, "Indeed they are being controlled by someone. And that someone…" In front of them, a large meteor exploded, and from within it, a large floating monkey head appeared, along with two floating, golden claws. "…Me!" he boomed as he made his appearance. From within the Highwind, all but Yui cried out in surprise. "Who's…" Kirito started. "Andross!" growled Fox.

"So nice of you to come here, Fox!" said the floating monkey head, "And I see you have guests. Let me show you a little hospitality!" he grabbed one of the asteroids nearby and threw one at the crew. Everyone dispersed, but Fox's Arwing and the heroes' ship came back into position. "It's time we settle this, Andross!" barked Fox. "Let us join with you!" Sora called out.

The team started to engage the large primate, shooting it with their lasers while avoiding and defending against his fists, thrown asteroids, and lightning bolts from the jeweled palm of its' hands. The crystals on the palms were the hands weakness's, along with Andross's eyes. After the crystals took enough damage, the palms would explode and start falling, unable to be used.

It took some time, but Andross finally took too much damage. His head started to shake violently, then the skin fell off, revealing the robotic skin from within. "Shoot the cerebellum!" Fox ordered them. "The what?" Sora asked. "The brain! Shoot the brain!" Asuna told him. The team started shooting the forehead of the robotic beast, who tried ramming into them. After several shots, the head started exploding as it drifted away from them, then finally with one blast, it destroyed itself.

"We did it!" cheered Donald. "Andross is toast!" cried Fox. "…And look ahead." Asuna pointed out. The keyhole was right in front of them. "We better get going!" Kirito told Fox. "Thanks for your help." Fox replied, swerving his Arwing away as the Highwind charged forward, into the keyhole, unlocking the gate.

Once they went through, they found themselves blasting through the other side of the now opened gate, back in their space again. The two Teeny ships docked themselves next to the Highwind, and Sora and Asuna came back on the bridge of the ship again.

"That was something else." Sora stated. "I never thought I would experience a battle like that." Asuna stated. "But at least we made it through, thanks to the Star Fox team." Kirito stated, turning his head towards where the gate was at, "I hope they'll be safe from now on." They paused for a second, then Yui said, "We should probably go to the next world." "Yeah." Sora answered, getting back to his seat again, "Let's go."

* * *

**Chapter 2: One Tiny Situation**

It took some time, but the team found their way to the next world. It looked like the central point was a small house in a rather wooded area, with a city aways from it. "Looks like another Earth world." Kirito pointed out. "So what's the story with this place?" Sora asked. "Nothing too out of the ordinary." Yui responded, typing at the normal computer, "In fact, the computer doesn't have any big info on it."

"So it's a normal world for once?" Kirito asked, "Well that should change things a bit." "Hang on!" Yui said abruptly, looking at the computer. "I stand corrected." Kirito sighed. "No, not like that." Yui told him, "But according to this, it says only HUMANS can enter this world. Meaning Donald and Goofy can't join us." "What?!" Donald squawked. "Why not?" Sora asked. "It's a world rule." Yui responded, turning back to them, "Sorry, Donald and Goofy. It looks like you'll be staying here."

Donald and Goofy looked to one another. Donald sighed deeply. "Oh, don't worry." Goofy assured them, "We'll take care of the ship while you guys are down there." "Thanks, Goofy." Asuna thanked him. "I've set in the coordinates for us to be transported down." Yui explained, tapping at the computer, "Donald, why don't you do the honors of bringing us down there." "Okay!" Donald answered as Kirito, Asuna, Sora and Yui got onto the transporter. Donald tapped a button, and the four descended down to the surface.

When they came out, the four found themselves in a jungle of some kind. It looked like they were surrounded by a grass plain, with the grass reaching their heads. The team looked above and all around them. "What is this place?" Kirito asked. "The grass looks so big now." Asuna stated, walking up to touch the large blade of grass.

Yui looked to one side and gasped. "I don't think that's the only thing big." she said. The team turned and saw what she meant. A flower was off in the distance, but it was so tall, reaching way over their head. A fluttering of wings drew Sora's attention, and he turned just in time to see a ladybug as large as his head fly near them.

"Everything is so much bigger!" he gasped. "Actually, I think we're the ones who got smaller." Yui corrected him. "Again; I stand corrected." Kirito repeated, "This world isn't normal." "By my approximation, we should be around ten centimeters tall." Yui estimated. "How do you know?" Sora asked. "Because she's the smart one." Kirito responded, rubbing Yui's head as she giggled.

"We should start looking around." Asuna suggested, looking above the tall grass, then suggesting, "Let's go towards that house." If they were big, the house would be a few steps away. However, it looked like a long ways away from them from their view. "Better start walkin'." said Kirito. The team made their way across the ground, taking their time getting there. No Heartless seem to appear around them, nor Unversed. Things seemed quite…or so they thought.

As they walked, they heard a large beating of wings above them on one side. They looked above and saw a large crow flying over them. The flapping of its' wings was loud, a small gust produced itself as it flapped downward upon them. They held their position, sustaining themselves from the wind it produced. The crow didn't see them, however, but passed over them. It was going somewhere else. They paused to hear where it was going. They heard it caw, then after a few seconds, heard a raging meow.

"Is that a cat?" Asuna asked. "Probably." Kirito replied, "And at our size, it might think of us as a snack." The four looked to one another, then heard a pounding of footsteps. This was followed by a young boy who looked enormous from their view. He had neat black hair, a white long-sleeved shirt with the collar flipped out, black pants, belt with a silver buckle, and black shoes.

"Should we go check it out?" Sora asked. "Let's not." Kirito replied, placing his hand on Sora's shoulder, "The last thing we want is to be squashed like a pancake." "Hurry! I can see a way into the house!" Yui cried, pointing the way. The team made a mad dash to the house, running as fast as they could through the grass without making too much noise. They reached an old underground air vent underneath the house, and there was a flower pot that they used to get up and through the vent.

Once they made it through, they found themselves underneath the house itself. They got to a pile of bricks and sat down to catch their breath. "That was a close one." Asuna sighed. "It's been a while since I've been this small." Yui stated, looking around, "Though before, I had wings." "Still, at least your use to this view." Kirito stated, smiling as he looked to Yui, "You could probably lead us through this kind of stuff."

Just then, they heard a pattering of feet. They looked up to see a rather fat cat racing alongside the house, going towards something. They were right to run before, since the cat was big enough to eat them whole.

The team wondered what it was chasing until they saw what, or rather who leap through the metal vent just as the cat rammed into the flower pot. She was a young girl, with brown, shoulder-length hair, and she wore a long dress that was brown and beige. She was barefooted like Yui, though a bit older-looking than her. She was carrying some flowers, and two kinds of leaves.

As she reached the floor of the underground vent, she turned as the cat pressed its face against the vent, its' paw reaching out to her, meowing furiously. "Nice try." she giggled. The cat swiped several times, then gave up and turned away.

The girl turned towards where the four stood on the bricks. She was surprised at first, then she smiled broadly. "Wow! More Borrowers!" she exclaimed, rushing over to them. "Excuse me?" Asuna asked. "I haven't seen any other Borrowers outside of my own family before." she said, holding the plants she carried to one side, "Where'd you come from?" Again, that same question they get from every world.

They looked to each other, then Yui replied, "We're from the town beyond. We decided to come here to see the countryside, and that's when we found this place." "Really?" the girl asked, "What's the city like?" "Much different than here, that's for sure." Asuna answered, hopping down from the brick to where the girl stood, "Let me introduce myself. I'm Asuna. The three up there are Sora, Kirito and Yui." The three waved as their names were called. "Nice to meet you." the girl replied, "I'm Arrietty."

Once the other three came down, Sora asked, "So do you live here?" "Yeah. Me, my mom, Homily, and my dad, Pod. Our house is close by. You've got to meet them. They'll be so thrilled when they see more Borrowers." She giggled eagerly as she started to race off.

The four looked to one another. "Does anyone here know what a 'Borrower' is?" Asuna asked. "Dunno." Kirito answered, "But we certainly made that girl's day just by being here." "Let's go follow her." Sora suggested, "It's not like we have anything better to do. There aren't even any Heartless." "Don't go jinxing it." Asuna warned Sora.

"C'mon, you guys!" Arrietty called out to them, "What're you waiting for?" "Coming!" Sora replied, taking off with Yui at his side. Kirito and Asuna looked to one another, then raced after the two.

After running down the underground path, Arrietty led the team towards a larger pile of bricks than before, which almost reached the floorboards above. Arrietty waved them over to a gap in the pile, and they found themselves running up a flight of wooden staircases, leading to a green door. The house was made from random material, like pieces of cardboard, mailing letters, and whatnot.

"This way!" Arrietty told them, taking a left before reaching the door. The four rounded the corner as Arrietty brought herself and the plants she brought through a window. Once on the other side, she waved to them to come in. Before they could, however, a woman's voice came from within.

"Arrietty?" it called, startling Arrietty as she turned to the door entering her room. It opened to reveal a woman with black hair tied in the back. She had on a purple dress, orange apron, blue socks, green slippers, and a gold pendant around her neck. "You went outside again, didn't you?" she asked her, "How many times have I told you…what happened to your room?!" "It's my own little garden." Arrietty responded.

"It's more of a jungle in here." cried Asuna. Arrietty and her mother turned to see Sora, Asuna, Kirito and Yui looking at the window. She wasn't kidding about Arrietty's room. It would've looked like a normal room if it hadn't been for all of the plant life. Plants and weeds of all kinds hung all over the place. Arrietty was hiding her new plants on one corner of the bed.

"AAH! Who're they?!" demanded Homily. "Don't worry, mom. They're new Borrowers!" Arrietty assured her as Sora was the first to crawl into the room. "Hiya." Sora greeted Homily. "Oh, thank goodness. More Borrowers!" she gasped, taking Sora's hand and shaking it, "I was afraid we might be the last ones." "May we come in?" Asuna asked. "Of course! Of course! Come on in!" Homily beckoned them in. Asuna, Kirito and Yui entered into the room.

"I'm Sora. This is Kirito, Asuna and Yui." Sora greeted her. "How do you do? I'm Homily." the woman introduced herself, "Please, make yourself at home. I'll make some tea for all of you. Though, I'm running low on bay leaf." "In that case…" Arrietty started, pulling the green and red leaves that she brought in.

"Oh, a bay leaf!" said Homily. "I wanted to give you this for your birthday. But, oh well." She rushed passed her mother, giving her the leaves before running out the door. Homily smelled the bay leaf given to her. "This will last us for a whole year." she muttered, then turn to the four guests, "I make some good tea out of this. Follow me to the kitchen."

* * *

**Chapter 3: A Borrowing We Shall Go**

They exited the room to see Arrietty cut the stem of the flowers she brought in, then grabbed a glass jar and rushed down the hall. "The bay tree is so far away from here." Homily told Arrietty, "If a being saw you…" "Beings don't worry me." Arrietty called back. "But beings SHOULD scare you, that's what scares me!" Homily shouted, "The world isn't safe for a Borrower!"

She sighed and she turned to the four behind her. "Forgive my daughter." she said, "She just doesn't understand the dangers of the world." "I dunno. I'm not scared of the world." Sora stated, leaning back. "Me neither." Asuna agreed, "If you ask me, that bold nature's gonna help her out in the long run. It does for us."

"But aren't you afraid if a being sees you?" Homily asked, "What would happen if you ran into one? What then?" "I prefer to think on the fly when the time comes." Kirito replied casually, "Why live in fear when you can live the adventure." "See, even these people understand." Arrietty told her mother, coming back with the jar filled with water and the flower in it. Homily sighed, seeing how she was outvoted.

"I'm thirsty, mom." Yui told Asuna. "Oh that's right! I almost forgot about the tea." Homily realized, walking into the dining room and kitchen, "I'm afraid we're low on sugar. I'll ask my husband to get some on his next borrowing." "Borrowing?" Sora asked. "There's no need for that." Arrietty assured her, "Because tonight, I'll go borrow some for you." Homily looked upwards, faking a quizzical look. "Don't tell me you forgot." Arrietty told her, "Tonight's gonna be my first borrowing." Yui and Asuna looked to one another, not sure what a 'borrowing' was.

Just then, they heard the door open and close. "Oh, papa's home." Arrietty exclaimed, rushing to the door. "Papa, guess what? I found more Borrowers!" she said. She led her father in. He was a middle aged, but well-built man, and he had on a brown hat with a mask attached to it, a thick white sweater with the sleeves rolled up, a brown vest, gray pants, a belt with silver buckle, and a green backpack filled with exploration stuff.

"Pod, isn't this exciting? We aren't the last ones." Homily stated happily. Pod looked to the four heroes. "Are there any more of you?" "That's right, are there any more Borrowers you know that are still alive?" Homily asked. "Sorry, we don't." Yui replied. "Oh…" Homily sighed, looking down slightly. "But I'm sure there are others." Yui continued. "Yeah. I'm sure you aren't the last ones." Kirito assured them, "Just have a little faith, that's all."

"So anyway, dad." Arrietty continued, "Are we still going tonight? I've been practicing my stealth. I know I can…" "There's a new being in the house." Pod told everyone. "What?!" exclaimed Homily. "Yeah, I saw him. But I made sure he didn't see me. He's much smaller than the other beings." _They must be talking about that boy._ Asuna thought, _He was the only large person we saw._

Arrietty and Homily continued to argue until dusk started to settle. Homily was pouring out tea while Kirito helped Pod out with cracking open nuts, which to their tiny form was the size of their hands, and placing them into a bowl. Sora and Yui explored around the house while Asuna helped out Arrietty in the kitchen.

"We know nothing about this new being." "But you said tonight would be my night." Arrietty reminded her, sitting at the table, "And besides, he's just a child. He means no harm." "She is right." Asuna agreed with Arrietty, "I saw the boy. He couldn't be any older than Sora." "And it's always the young ones who are the most troubles." Homily argued.

Sora and Yui entered the room as Pod placed his nutcracker on the table, which drew everyone's attention. "Well, young beings do go to sleep early." he said. Arrietty beamed. "Oh thank you, papa!" she thanked him, getting out of her seat. "But, Pod!" Homily moaned. "The boy's very sickly. He won't be too much trouble." Pod assured her.

"C'mon, Asuna." Arrietty told her, "Come to my room. I need to dress up for the borrowing." "Okay." Asuna replied. "Let us come too." Sora asked. "Uh-uh. Girls only." Asuna replied, "Besides, she's getting dressed. Give her some privacy." Yui decided to stay next to Kirito as they watched Arrietty lead Asuna to her room.

Once inside, Arrietty went to one of her drawers and pulled out three different sets of dresses. Asuna sat down on the corner of the bed. "This is gonna be so exciting!" Arrietty said eagerly. "So this is your first time?" Asuna asked her, "Tell me, how old are you." "I'm almost gonna be fourteen." Arrietty replied, laying out each dress on the bed, "What about you?" "I'm eighteen." Asuna replied, "Kirito's seventeen, and Sora's fifteen."

"So your the oldest." Arrietty confirmed, looking under the bed for some shoes, "What about Yui?" "We adopted her, so we don't know how old she really is." Asuna answered. Arrietty turned her head up to Asuna. "I had no idea." she said sympathetically, "Sorry." "It's okay. You didn't know." Asuna replied, smiling at her, "Yui's fine. She considers me and Kirito her mother and father, and Sora's a bit of an older brother to her."

"Hey, which one do you think would look better on me?" Arrietty asked, looking at the three sets of clothing. Asuna eyed them for a second. "The red one looks good." she replied. "Red it is, then." Arrietty stated, grabbing the other two and putting them away.

As she changed, one question in Asuna's mind was taking shape, so as not to draw suspicion. "Hey, I'm just wondering about the whole 'borrowing' thing." she started, "I'm pretty sure what it is, but we call it something differently. So what do you mean by 'borrowing'?"

"You call it something else?" Arrietty asked surprisingly, popping her head through the dress. Asuna shrugged. "Well to us, a borrowing is when we go up into the house above us and 'borrow' stuff off of them. Stuff they wouldn't notice go missing that we could use to survive." "You mean like stealing?" Asuna asked. "Beings call it stealing. We call it borrowing." Arrietty stated, sitting down to put on her shoes.

"Sorry." Asuna apologized, "I guess you need to steal to survive, so who am I to argue. Just the life of a Borrower, right?" "You do the same, don't you?" Arrietty asked, setting her hair as she looked into the mirror. "We do." Asuna lied, "And it is like you say, beings don't notice them missing."

"You got it." Arrietty answered, turning to Asuna, "So, how do I look?" She wire a simple red, long-sleeved dress, with brown knee-high boots, and a pink clip held back her long hair into a bushy ponytail. Arrietty did a spin, and her skirt part fanned a bit. "Like a true Borrower." Asuna replied, making Arrietty happy. The two girls left the room.

They rejoined the others. Pod was preparing Sora and Kirito for something. "What're you doing?" Asuna asked. "Pod's allowing us to join with you on the borrowing." Sora explained. "Meaning Sora begged him to have us join you guys." Kirito corrected. "I wasn't begging." Sora denied. Asuna rolled her eyes.

"You okay with this, Arrietty?" Kirito asked. "Sure. I would love to see you guys in action!" she responded. Pod started preparing Asuna and Arrietty for the borrowing, with Arrietty getting a white bag to carry her stuff. After she was set, Asuna quickly whispered to the two boys about what a borrowing was. "Okay, that makes sense." Kirito understood. "Doesn't sound too hard." Sora stated. "In this size, things will be a little more difficult." Asuna warned him.

"I'm coming, too." Yui stated, walking up to Pod and Arrietty. "But Yui, it's way too dangerous for you." Homily answered, grabbing one of her hands, "Stay here with me, where it's safe." "No!" Yui whined, "I wanna go with mama, papa and Sora!" "No way! It's too dangerous!" barked Homily. "I'm going!" Yui repeated, struggling to free herself from Homily's grip.

"Let her go. She can come." Kirito told Homily. Yui smiled eagerly. "But she's too young! She can't handle herself out there." Homily pointed out. "Yui's been on a few of these raids with us before." Kirito explained, "Believe me, she can take care of herself. Besides, she won't stop struggling unless she comes with us." "Yui'll be just fine with us." Sora reassured her, "She may be small, but she's really smart."

Homily looked timidly at Yui, then at Pod, who looked to Yui before answering, "Just make sure she stays close." "That's pretty much why she wants to come." Kirito replied as Yui rushed over to Asuna and hugged her. Arrietty looked to Yui, both excited to have her come, and slightly worried about her safety. Homily asked Pod to get her some tissue and sugar, and begged him to make sure everyone will be safe. Once they were set, the team exited the house and up the path to the surface.

* * *

**Chapter 4: Hunt in the House**

Pod lit up a small lightbulb, which to their size was a lantern, and started their journey upwards. The team went up a path, going up higher and closer to the human house floorboards. The team arrived on the surface of the pile of bricks that hid the small house.

As they went up, Homily called out to Arrietty through an open window and waved to her. As Arrietty waved back, a beetle appeared from behind her. Homily panicked, but Asuna's reaction time kicked in. She whipped out her Keyblade for the first time in this world, and smacked away the bug until it scurried off. "Wow!" Arrietty gasped, gazing at Asuna's weapon, "Where did you get that? And how did you make it appear?" "It's a Keyblade." Asuna replied, "As for how it appeared…let's just call it magic." She placed away her Keyblade and followed the others, with an amazed Arrietty followed.

Pod started to lead the team over a bridge of nails that were stuck to the side of the support beam. Kirito followed, and Sora supported Yui as they followed. Asuna and Arrietty took the rear, nervous at first, then not fearing it. It took a minute, but the team made their way to the other side, where a ladder made of staples waited for them. The team waited for everyone to come across.

As Arrietty joined the rest, they heard some rustling from down below. "What was that?" Yui asked, looking down. Pod waved his lantern to see the floor below. It seemed like nothing at first, but then a couple creatures appeared from within the shadows. "Are those ants?" Arrietty asked. "Heartless!" gasped Sora, seeing the Shadow Heartless, "Looks like they started coming here, too." "What are Heartless?" Pod asked. "Creatures made from the darkness in people's hearts." Asuna explained, looking at them, "There don't seem to be a lot, but we shouldn't let them wander free."

"Does that mean we should stop and fight them?" Sora asked. "But they're way down there." Pod stated, "There's no way we can reach them and do the borrowing." Kirito saw the sad look on Arrietty's face, then decided, "I'll go down there." "Kirito?" Asuna asked. "I'll take care of the Heartless." Kirito told them, "You guys go on without me, okay?" "You really don't want to come?" Arrietty asked. "Kirito considers beating up Heartless more exciting." Asuna told her, "Heck, he likes if he fights any enemies. It's how he relaxes."

Kirito aimed for a spot to land on, then leapt down. Arrietty gasped as she watched him descend. Kirito landed on the tallest concrete block near them, and didn't suffer any damage from it. He turned around and waved at them, assuring he was okay. "He jumped down there without too much trouble." Pod said with a slight sign of amazement. "We're not your ordinary 'run of the mill' Borrowers here." Sora stated, "We're all tough!" Kirito whipped out his Keyblade, and charged at the Heartless. Pod paused for a second, then said, "C'mon, let's go." He climbed up the ladder, and Sora, Arrietty, Asuna and Yui followed.

The team continued through the small path until they found some sort of pulley contraption, with a spool wrapped in string connected to some gears. Pod gave Arrietty the light, and demonstrated by placing his feet onto a nail held by a long string that came from above. Then with one tug, the nail rose into the air like a make-shift elevator, and a rock tied by string fell down, as it was the weight support. Once Pod was at the top, he jumped off the tail, and pulled up the rock, bringing the nail down to them. _Handy on what thing you could make and do with a small body._ thought Asuna.

Since Arrietty had the lantern, the team had to go up one at a time. Sora went up first, followed by Asuna, then Yui, and finally Arrietty. Once they were all up, walked a little further until they reached a door. Pod turned off the light afterwards, and the team exited through a hole. They went around some glasses, dishes and silverware, and found themselves on a shelf in a human kitchen. It looked like an old one, but to the team, the place was enormous. "This place…" Arrietty started. "…is big." Asuna finished.

"Woah, this kitchen is ginormous!" shouted Sora. The girls panicked and covered his mouth. "Not so loud, you idiot!" Asuna hissed. "You want the beings to hear us?" Arrietty whispered. "Sorry." Sora replied. The girls looked left and right, but no one came. They sighed in relief as they lowered their hands.

"The sugar is over there." Pod explained, pointing to a table in the middle of the room, where a small pot was on. "Doesn't seem too hard." Sora stated. "Then follow me." Pod told her, grabbing his grappling gear, which was a string with a fish hook on it. He placed a hook into a crack on the shelf, and lowered himself down. Asuna and Sora followed, leaving Yui and Arrietty watching from the shelf.

Once on the floor, Pod flicked the rope, and the hook detached itself from the shelf, and he caught it as it fell. "Nice grab." Asuna told him. The trio made there way across the floor, racing to the leg of the table. "You know how to get up there?" Pod asked as Sora looked up. "Actually, I didn't plan that far." he chuckled nervously. Asuna sighed. "Sometimes, I wonder, Sora…" Asuna mumbled, then followed his gaze, "There's got to be a way up there." Asuna thought this through for a second, then Sora made a noise. "I got one." Sora stated, turning to her.

Sora explained his idea, which was both creative and stupid, yet it could work. Pod handed Asuna the grappling hook, and stepped away as Sora got into position. Sora cupped his hands and lowered himself down as Asuna backed off. Then with great speed, she charged at Sora. Once her foot was in Sora's hands, he hoisted her up as she jumped, and she soared incredibly high, nearly reaching the tabletop. Arrietty and Yui gasped in amazement as they watched her soar.

At the peak of her height, Asuna grabbed the grappling hook and threw it at a cup on the counter. The hook latched itself to the top of the cup, and held on. Asuna was now dangling on the rope as it hung over the side of the table. "Way to go, mama!" Yui cheered softly. "Wow, Asuna. You are great!" Arrietty gasped. Asuna looked down to see Pod and Sora standing there, looking up at her. "And to think this was Sora's idea." she said, turning her head up again and started climbing.

Once at the top, she removed the hook and made her way towards the pot they saw before. She climbed over a blender cord, walked across the table, got to the pot and opened the lid. Inside were a bunch of sugar cubes. Asuna took one and held it aloft, showing Arrietty and Yui. "Yay!" squeaked Arrietty as she clapped softly.

Pod called up to her and Yui, and asked them to come down. Arrietty set her own grappling hook in, and she and Yui went to the floor. As they fell, Asuna tied the sugar cube with the rope and lowered it gently down to the team. Arrietty and Yui joined Pod and Sora, and Arrietty opened up her bag. She made some space as the sugar cube came to them. She unwrapped the rope tying the sugar, and placed the cube into her bag, fastening the button to hold it in. Asuna lowered herself down with the grappling hook, and gave it back to Pod. "Nice job." Pod told her. Asuna smirked, looking to Sora, who grinned eagerly.

"Where to now?" Arrietty asked. "Tissue paper." Pod replied, and the team started to walk to the plugin on the wall. An old clock started to chime. Twelve chimes. It was midnight. As Pod reached for the wall plugin to remove the panel, a few Heartless suddenly appeared all around them. "Not here, too!" Asuna exclaimed as she, Sora and Yui pulled out their weapons, protecting Arrietty and Pod.

Arrietty hastily looked around, and saw a pin on the floor. She picked it up and examined it. At her size, it looked like a decent sword. She looked to the Heartless, then held the pin out, ready to fight. "I will strike you down with my sword!" she declared. Asuna looked to her, wondering if she was really prepared to fight them. But now wasn't the time to think. The team charged at the group of Heartless.

They were composed of Shadows, Hook Bats and a couple of Nightwalkers. Sora and Yui took on one half while Asuna helped Arrietty out with the other. Arrietty may not have had experience with the pin sword, but she was capable of fighting. Her nimble skills as a Borrower proved very useful in battle. She also produced daggers attached to her boots and did a double spin kick at times. The team cleared the area of Heartless.

Pod detached the wall plugin panel, and ordered the team to enter through. They did so, and Pod inserted the plugin back into its' place, like nothing happened. "Nice job, Arrietty." Asuna congratulated her. Arrietty giggled at the praise, then ran her pin sword through her dress like a scabbard to keep it in place. "I wasn't afraid. I'm capable of taking a lot of those on." she stated defiantly. "Sometimes, it's best not to go looking for trouble." Pod told her, and he led the team on. "With our luck, trouble usually finds us." Yui stated obviously. Sora and Asuna giggled in response, knowing it to be true.

The team made their way through the walls, going up to the second floor of the house. No Heartless in sight as they progressed. Sora guessed that the Heartless were either lying and waiting, or there just wasn't enough of them around. Asuna hoped for the latter.

After a while, the team arrived at their next destination. Pod pulled out a piece of the wall and placed it on the side. He then hopped over and opened the door to something. He beckoned the four in, who were surprised to see what the interior looked like. The place looked like a living room for the rich, with well designed furniture, and a chandelier hanging in the middle of the room. The door they went through was the back of a well decorated fireplace. There were dishes, mirrors, lamps, pictures, all sorts of things that were so well made, Sora, Asuna and Yui completely forgotten that they were still small.

"What is this place?" asked Arrietty, looking around with an open mouth. "The beings call it a 'doll house'." Pod answered, raising his lantern a bit, "Dolls are toys for beings, and we are not toys. We can't take anything from here. The beings will know if something was missing." "But this place looks like it was made for you guys." Asuna pointed out, setting herself on one of the seats, "Look, even this chair is just the right size." Yui looked at herself through a three-angled mirror. Sora was looking at one of the paintings.

"This way." Pod told them as he turned off his lantern, and he opened a door to a balcony, bringing everyone back to the reality of how small they were again. Outside the doll house, the team found themselves in a large bedroom, with shelves of books, a table with flowers on it, and an old grandfather clock, which was ticking away as the clock red five past midnight on it.

The team walked along the balcony towards a nightstand, where they could see the tissue paper. There was a bed next to it, and a lump told them that someone was sleeping in it.

The team crawled went along the edge of the wall, and made it towards the nightstand. Without saying anything, Pod signaled Sora, Asuna and Yui to stay put while he and Arrietty went to grab the tissue. Arrietty set her bag down with it open, and crawled onto the tissue box with her father.

The trio down below watched as the two started to slowly pull out the tissue. After a pause, Arrietty started when suddenly, she gasped in fright as she looked to the bed. Yui found a crack through the stuff on the nightstand, and saw why she panicked. The boy they saw before was awake, and he was staring at Arrietty.

Without panicking too much, Arrietty slowly hid herself behind the tissue and made gestures to her father that she had been spotted. Pod frowned at the boy, then decided they should leave now. The two crept off the tissue box. As Arrietty got her bag, the sugar cube fell out of her bag and fell to the ground below. She panicked as she looked down at it, wondering how to get it. Asuna, Sora and Yui followed her gaze, wondering the same thing.

"Don't be afraid, okay?" whispered the boy. Arrietty flinched slightly. He was addressing her. The three looked to her as Arrietty buttoned up her bag, and settled it over her shoulder.

As the team walked away, the boy whispered, "Hey, I knew it was you. In the garden, I saw you." The team looked to each other,wondering if he was talking about them or Arrietty, who paused for a second. She turned to the tissue box, reached up for a second, then second guessed herself, and continued walking with the others. "My mother use to tell me stories…about the little people who live behind the walls." the boy explained, "Was it you? Was it?" Arrietty didn't answered as she and the others shuffled along the wall, went into the doll house and into the wall once more.

It was several minutes until they were underneath the floorboards again. By that time, Kirito was sitting near the top of the pile of bricks, waiting for them. He watched as the team, with a depressed Arrietty in the lead, walked towards him. "Heya, guys." he waved at them, hopping off the brick, "How'd the hunt go?" Arrietty didn't say a word as he walked passed Kirito, who saw the expression on her face before looking to Asuna, who was next.

"What happened?" he asked her. "I'll tell you later on." she replied, "For now, we need to rest. It was quite the adventure." Kirito watched Asuna, Sora and Yui passed him, pause for a second to think about what happened, then followed behind, with Pod watching him go down to the house, and following him from behind.

* * *

**Chapter 5: Give Back What was Borrowed**

The next day, Arrietty wasn't feeling any better. She was back in her brown dress again. The weather outside matched her attitude; cloudy and stormy. No one said anything about what happened to Homily, though in private, Asuna, Sora and Yui told Kirito the whole story.

They joined Arrietty along the vent shaft where they first met. To help take her mind off of things, Asuna started teaching Arrietty how to use the pin sword like a rapier. Her nimble skills made her quite well with combat, and she did improve in skills, even learning a technique she called 'Quick Jabber', a rapid thrust attack. Her heart wasn't fully into the training because of the incident, so they stopped training after a while.

Sora was puzzled on how she could be so depressed until he asked her. She explained that once a Borrower is seen, they must leave their home and move to somewhere else. However, they weren't gonna tell Homily about it, and decided not to start moving until they were absolutely certain.

The team watched the rain outside pour down to the ground from outside. That morning, only two groups of Heartless attacked them, but apart from that, there wasn't really anything else to do. Yui found a pillbug to play with, and fun with it when it curled up into a ball. Kirito was resting with his eyes closed. Asuna and Sora decided to start practicing their own skills with the Keyblade.

Arrietty was pondering on the events before when she started to hear something, and so did the others. It was footsteps. Human footsteps walking through the rain. The team looked at the air vent to see the legs of the same boy they saw last night. He neared the vent, and the team could hear the rain pounding on the umbrella he carried. "What's he doing here?" Yui asked, frightened. Asuna went over and wrapped her arms around Yui while Sora paused, waiting. Kirito sat up, seeing the boy.

All five of them watched as the boy lowered himself, and dropped something next to the vent. The sugar cube, and a small folded piece of paper. Arrietty stood up and gasped. The others were surprised as well. The boy stood up again, and left without saying a word.

The team rushed over to the vent, and looked towards where the boy left. Then they looked to the sugar cube. "Why'd he do that?" Arrietty asked. "He knows where you live now." Kirito pointed out, "Does that mean you have to move?" "Probably…" Arrietty responded.

"But he doesn't seem like a bad person to me." Yui stated, walking over to the present he left, "Otherwise, he wouldn't have left this cube of sugar for you." "That's true." Asuna agreed walking next to her and picking up the sugar cube, "That boy may be a bit curious about you guys, but I'm sure he doesn't mean any harm." Arrietty looked down, concern.

"So what's with this piece of paper?" Sora asked, taking the folded paper that was underneath the sugar cube. Sora started to open it, but then withheld. "What?" Asuna asked him. Sora turned to Arrietty. "I don't think I'm the one who should open this." Sora stated, "I think it was meant for you." He gave the paper to Arrietty, who took it and opened it, with Kirito and Yui looking at what it said:

_You Forgot Something_

Arrietty looked surprised, then looked at the sugar cube Asuna held. "So what're you gonna do?" Kirito asked her. Arrietty paused for a few seconds, then replied, "I'm gonna talk to him." The others were shocked at the answer. "But I thought you said you shouldn't be seen by them." Sora recalled. "It's too late now." Arrietty replied, dropping the note and taking the sugar cube, "Besides, I agree with Yui; he doesn't look like he means harm. I have to give this back, and tell him to leave us alone."

"You do realize Homily's gonna flip when she finds out about this." Kirito pointed out, "You said it yourself; if a Borrower is discovered, they must leave their home." "Which is why we're keeping it a secret from her and Pod." Asuna told the group, "We leave once the rain is over, got it?" The others nodded in response. Arrietty nodded as well, though worried about keeping it a secret from her parents.

Several hours later, the rain stopped. The sun was shining down on the large house. Sora, Asuna, Kirito, Yui and Arrietty spent the time waiting by doing some chores around the Borrower's house. Afterwards, Homily stated that she was gonna go to bed and rest for a bit. Since Pod was in his workshop, this gave the others a chance. Arrietty dressed herself in her second garments again, placed the sugar cube in her bag and left the note in her room. She joined the others, excluding Kirito, outside the house, and they started their journey.

They went out the air vent to the place where they found the sugar cube. Kirito was waiting for them. "I did a little reconnaissance, and found out that the boy's in his room." Kirito explained. "So we should go through the path we did to get up there last night." Sora suggested. "No, we have to go into the kitchen in order to do that." Asuna told him, "And it's the middle of the day. The other people in the house might see us."

"Then we go THIS way." Arrietty declared, and she started climbing up the vines on the side of the wall. "You got it!" Sora responded, following her lead, with Kirito, Asuna and Yui bringing up the rear. Together, they shimmied along the vines, going to the top of the house. Water droplets fell on top of them as they shifted the leaves growing from the vines. Arrietty was use to climbing around like this, so the team had to pay close attention to her. At some points, Kirito had to carry Yui on her shoulders since she was too small to reach certain places.

After a few minutes of climbing, the team finally reached the roof of the house. They climbed onto a gutter and paused to catch their breath, then felt the breeze rush through their hair. They turned to see the view from which they stood. They saw the entire garden in front of them, along with a small lake, a gazebo, and the woods that seem to go on for distances. "It looks so small from up here." Yui stated, looking down. "Almost makes us look like the size of beings." Kirito joked.

There was a bird cry that caught their attention. They looked to see a large crow sitting on one of the trees, eyeing them and cawing at them. "Let's not stick around to be his lunch." said Asuna nervously. "The boy's room is close." Arrietty stated, "Follow me!" As the team rushed up the roof, Kirito looked back at the crow. Something seemed off about that crow, though he couldn't put his finger on it.

They made it to the window of the boy's room. The window was open, and it had a screen on it. They could see some holes in the screen. As the team started to slow down, Arrietty held a hand to them. "Let me do this alone." she told them, "I don't want you guys to be discovered, too." The others looked to one another, then nodded in agreement.

The boy was in his bed, reading a book. Arrietty got up and shielded herself with a leaf from the vine. She pulled out the sugar cube and tossed it into one of the holes in the screen, where it dropped to the floor. The boy saw it, realizing where it came from. He saw the shadow of Arrietty through the leaf. He smiled eagerly.

"Is that you from last night?" he asked. Arrietty paused for a second, looking to the four, then replied, "Please leave us alone. We don't need your help." "Can I please just talk to you?" the boy asked. "No." Arrietty replied, "Human beings are dangerous. Whenever one sees us, we have to leave."

"Well in any case, my name's Shawn." the boy introduced himself, "What's your name? What do they call you?" Arrietty looked startled, then replied, "Not that it's any of your business, but it's Arrietty." "Arrietty…that's a beautiful name." Shawn stated. Even from the distance they were at, the team noticed her blush a bit from the compliment.

"Maybe we can be friends?" Shawn asked her. Arrietty didn't answer. "Can you at least come out to where I can see you?" Shawn asked, "I want to make sure I'm not dreaming." Again, Arrietty looked startled. She shook her head in response. "I won't hurt you. I promise." Shawn told her. Arrietty paused again, wondering if she should. She then started to move pass the leaf.

As they watched, the team heard the crow's cry again. They, along with Arrietty, turned to see that bird come at them. Arrietty dove out of the way, grabbing onto a leaf as the crow penetrated the screen door. While she was holding onto the leaf from the birds flapping, the other four weren't so lucky.

They were sent flying into the air, soaring outwards and over the roof, into the garden itself. They cried in panic as they fell down from the long distance, the ground drawing nearer to them. "This is gonna be painful!" Asuna cried. "Yui! Give us a Whirlwind!" Kirito shouted. Yui did just that, summoning her tessen, and bringing out a Whirlwind. The gust cushioned their fall, and they managed to fall to the ground without too much trouble.

Sora and Kirito were on their back. Asuna was on her knees. Yui just stood there, in the middle of the group. "I'm lucky we didn't die…" Asuna sighed in relief. "I'm just lucky Yui has that move." Sora added. Kirito smirked as he looked up at Yui. "Nice catch, Yui." he told her. Yui giggle in response.

Once the Keyblade wielders were on their feet, they looked around for a second, then they found themselves surrounded by a bunch of Heartless. "Guess we got some company to this fall." Kirito jokingly stated as the team produced this weapon. "I see Creeper Plants, Hammer Frames and Big Bodies!" Yui analyzed, looking at what was dished out at them. "Give a few seconds. You won't see any of them after we beat them!" Sora declared.

The team dispersed and took on all of the Heartless that were set in front of them. The Heartless were certainly were packing in numbers this time around, and were tough to handle with. The Creeper Plants shot from a distance, the Hammer Frames produced shockwaves, and the Big Bodies were immune to physical frontal assaults. Regardless, the team challenged their way through, attacking all of the Heartless that impeded in their path.

After several minutes of this, the team finally cleared the area of the Heartless. They only had a short time to relax before something else impeded their path. The crow was back. It landed on the ground and cawed at the four of them, though it sounded more like a roar at their size. "Give me a break!" Sora cried, enduring the sound wave it made.

Just then, the pudgy cat they saw before streaked across the lawn, and the team found themselves stuck between the cat and the crow. "Anybody got any bright ideas?" Asuna asked. "Sorry. I got nothing." Kirito answered, staring between the crow and the cat. The crow dove forward and attempted to peck at Sora, but he jumped to one side. "We gotta distract them somehow!" Sora exclaimed. Yui looked up at the crow, then she realized something.

"Guys! Move to the crow!" Yui told the team, starting to race towards the oversized avian. "Are you nuts?!" Sora called out. "Yui, come back!" Asuna cried. "It's too dangerous!" Kirito shouted. Yui ignored them and continued to race towards the crow, who eyed her as she came closer. It pecked at her twice, but she dodged it and ended up underneath its' talons.

"Over here!" Yui called out to them. The trio of Keyblade wielder looked to each other, then frantically raced towards Yui's position. The crow tried attacking them, but the trio kept dodging. Just as they reached the crow's talons, the cat made its' move. The cat pounced at the group. "Move!" yelled Kirito, and the team ran away just as the cat tackled the crow. The two creature had begun to fight with one another. "Run to the house!" Yui declared, and the team raced back to the house while the cat and crow fought.

* * *

**Chapter 6: Stealth Sneak & Sayonara**

The four made it over and through the air vent, only stopping once all four of them were in. "That was a close one!" Asuna sighed in relief. "Nice trick there, Yui." Kirito complimented her. "I just hope the cat thinks the crow is a better snack than us." Yui replied. Sora chuckled at Yui's statement.

"But what happened to Arrietty?" Asuna asked, "I wonder if the crow got her." "Nah, she must be okay." Sora responded casually, "She's too tough to go down that easily." "That's for sure." Asuna agreed, "And maybe Shawn helped save her."

While pondering on the subject, Kirito detected a presence in the room. He whipped out his Keyblade. "Who's there?!" demanded Kirito, turning around. Sora and Asuna almost did the same thing as Kirito did at the same time, also feeling the presence. For a while, there was nothing. Then they heard odd growling, along with footsteps. The team looked every which way to where the sound was coming from.

Suddenly, Kirito felt an impact hit his chest, and he was sent flying. "Kirito!" Asuna cried, seeing him fall aways from them. "An invisible Heartless?" Sora asked, looking around. Something attacked him from the side, and he was sent tumbling away. Asuna and Yui looked around, wondering where the attacks were coming from. _How can I fight what I can't see?_ Asuna thought, looking around.

Asuna instinctively dove back just as something almost hit her. She felt the wind of the attack as it barely grazed her. Asuna skidded to a halt, then it came to her. _Of course! If I can't see my opponent, then I should hear it._ she realized. She turned to Yui. "Yui, go help the other two. I got this!" she ordered her. Yui nodded, and ran to Sora and Kirito, who were starting to get up again.

Asuna closed her eyes and concentrated. Since the opponent was invisible, she needed to listen and feel for the opponent. She heard it's growling, the footsteps it made as it drew closer. Finally, she opened her eyes, and struck hard from her front-right. It made contact, and she repeatedly jabbed at the invisible opponent at lightning fast speeds. After several seconds of this, the body of the being became opaque, and it made its' appearance.

It was a chameleon-like Heartless, lime green body with a tan underbody, and black markings going all about its' body. It had a white horn, yellow, googily eyes, black claws, and it stood on two legs.

The team gathered together again as the monster stood there, bearing down upon them. "I remember this!" Sora gasped, "It was with Clayton back in Tarzan's World! That was such a long time ago…" "The Stealth Sneak." Yui named the beast. The monster let out a loud roar at them as it stood there. All four fighters got prepared as they faced the oversized reptile.

Kirito charged in first, leaping up at it. The Stealth Sneak charged forward at him, lowering its' head as it did so. The two made contact, and canceled each other out. The Heartless recoiled as Sora came in and sliced it with a combo of attacks. The Heartless retaliated with an energy blast from its' hands. "Sora!" shouted Asuna, diving in to grab Sora and pull him out of the way before the attack struck him. "Thanks!" Sora eagerly told her.

Kirito and Yui charged in for the attack. Kirito slashed it hard, followed by Yui, who sliced it a couple times with her tessen. The Stealth Sneak charged once more, and this time knocked Yui and Kirito back. Kirito recovered in midair, and grabbed Yui as they hit the ground. "You okay?" he asked her. "Yeah, thanks." Yui thanked her father.

The team continued to fight against the Heartless, giving everything they got against it. The Stealth Sneak was one tricky creature, lunging at them, shooting them with energy blasts from its' hands, and shootings lasers from its' eyes. The lasers were the tricky part, since they kept homing in on them. While most of their magic didn't work as well on it, their Thunder magic seemed normally effective.

After damaging it considerately, the Stealth Sneak vanished again, turning invisible before their very eyes. "Not again!" Kirito growled, rushing at the spot where the Heartless was at before, but only sliced the air. He looked around, and an energy blast struck him from behind, sending him to the ground. "Where are you?" sneered Asuna, starting to concentrate, but she instead got hit by a pair of lasers from the beast's eyes.

"We gotta get it into view!" Sora growled, seeing what it was doing to his friends. Yui looked around, and saw the sun shining through the grates of the air vent. This gave Yui an idea. She tugged at Sora's sleeve, getting his attention. "Then let's let it reveal itself!" she told him, pointing at the spot where the sun's rays were hitting. Sora looked at it, and realized where she was going at. "Got it!" Sora replied, and the two raced towards the spot, lining themselves near the wall.

As Kirito and Asuna got up again, they heard Sora shout, "Hey, you big oaf! Come try to get us!" They turned to where Sora and Yui were at, jumping up and down and waving their arms. "What're they doing?" Asuna asked, perplexed. "Dunno. But I hope its' good." Kirito responded, seeing the two dance about.

Sora and Yui stopped jumping as they heard the Stealth Sneak roar. "It's true that it's hard to fight you if you're invisible…" Yui started as they waited. "…But in the sun, that invisibility thing means nothing!" Sora finished. They heard footsteps, and finally, a black shadow of the Heartless started to show itself as it came into the sun's rays. "There!" Sora shouted, and the two charged in and struck the spot where the shadow was coming from. They made contact with the Stealth Sneak, who roared in pain from the double attack.

Sora and Yui backed off, then looked to one another. "Yui, let's do it!" Sora declared. "Right, together!" Yui agreed. They grabbed each others hands, and concentrated. Their joint hands started to glow, and the two begun their Limit Break 'Cyclone Union'.

Yui got onto Sora's shoulders, piggybacking on top of him as the two were surrounded by a pink and green tornado. The two started to swing their weapons, sending arcs of wind blasts of green and pink at the nearest enemy, which was Stealth Sneak. He kept getting hit by this barrage of wind blasts from the duo. In their final attack, Yui and Sora charged themselves up, and slammed into the ground, and the tornado became a bunch of smaller tornados that started homing in on the Stealth Sneak, causing an immense amount of damage.

"Sora, finish it!" Yui told him. "Right!" Sora responded, "_Limit!_" Sora entered his Limit Form, and charged ahead at the beast. It attempted to charge at Sora, but he used a Dodge Roll, and unleashed his Sonic Blade technique at a quick attack rate. Sora finished his attack, came around with a series of attacks, flipped backwards, and penetrated right through the Heartless with his Zantetsuken.

Everybody watched as the Heartless writhed in agony, the final attack being the death blow to it. It reared its' head and roared in desperation, then toppled over onto its' side. A giant heart came out of it as it disappeared, and it rose into the air, disappearing from view.

"That was amazing!" Kirito congratulated the two, "Clever using the sun to finding the Heartless." "Hey, Yui's the one who helped figure out its' weakness." Sora chuckled, looking down to Yui. "But you finished him off in the end." Yui pointed out, looking back at him. "You two make quite the team." Asuna said happily. The two looked to one another, and smiled. They jumped up together as they gave each other a high five.

Kirito looked towards the spot where the Stealth Sneak was at, and saw three magic orbs there. "Hey, check it out!" he told the group, and they turned as the orbs came to each of them. "Those are the Magnet Elements!" Yui explained, "You can now use the Magnet spell." "My favorite spell." Kirito stated as they took the orbs.

The team paused for a second, during which Sora's Limit Form was up, and he reverted back to normal. He then turned to the group. "Let's go back to Arrietty's home." he suggested, "Maybe she's waiting for us there." The others nodded in agreement. With that, the team walked their way back towards the house.

When they entered inside, they made their way to the kitchen, where Homily and Pod were sitting at the table, having tea. "Hey, we're back." Sora told them. "My goodness, where did you go?" Homily asked them. "Just exploring." Sora replied casually.

Just then, Arrietty ran into the room. "You guys! You're safe!" Arrietty gasped in relief. "Course we are." Kirito told her, "Take a lot more than that to hurt us." "What do you mean?" Homily asked, standing up and looking at the lot, "Where did you go? What happened?" "Nothing!" Sora replied innocently, "It doesn't matter. What matters is that we're okay, right?" Homily wasn't convinced as she looked at them with a worried expression. Yui looked to Pod and saw the expression on his face. It took a few seconds before Yui realized that he knew where they went.

"I'll bring you guys to my room." Arrietty told them, "C'mon!" she led the four back to her room, leaving Homily standing there, and Pod sitting at the table, still. "I wonder what that was all about?" Homily asked, turning around to add more tea to her cup. Pod paused for a few seconds, then he said, "I think its' time we start looking for a new home. The boy knows where we live." Homily stopped pouring and looked up at him, shocked and worried. "Are we safe?" she asked him. Pod's mute reply wasn't reassuring. Homily sat back in her seat, scared.

In Arrietty's room, the five crammed themselves inside it. Arrietty was between Yui and Asuna, while Kirito took a seat on Arrietty's desk chair, and Sora remained standing. They had just explained what had happened to them.

"…So we came back her to make sure you were okay." Asuna ended, looking to her, "So what happened to you? How'd you survive?" Arrietty looked down for a second, a concern expression. "Shawn saved me from the crow." she explained, "He grabbed onto the leaf I was desperately holding onto, and hid me from another human being that came into the room. I snuck out of the leaf, and left through the hole near the doll house before anyone saw me. Then father saw me and…" She lowered her head a bit more, ashamed of what had happened.

"Well, at least you confirmed that Shawn is a good person." Yui told her, "Otherwise, he wouldn't have saved you. I'm sure he means no harm." "My father said that other Borrowers died thinking the same thing." Arrietty warned them. "Yeah…but at least you have proof to back it up." Asuna told her, "And if isn't enough to convince yourself, just trust your heart. I always knows what is right or wrong." Arrietty stared at Asuna for a second, then nodded in agreement.

"I think we should get going." Kirito told the group, standing up again. "You're leaving?" Arrietty asked, surprised. "For the time being." Kirito replied, "But we'll be back. In the meantime, tell Pod and Homily not to worry about us. I don't know how convinced Homily would be about that, but still…" "Kirito!" barked Asuna, ticked from his insult towards Homily.

Arrietty shook her head. "It's okay. I know my mom's worried about everything." she told Asuna, "But I'll tell her. In the meantime, keep on fighting and surviving, okay?" Asuna smiled and nodded. Sora and Kirito looked to one another, smirking a bit.

Arrietty turned to Yui. "You do the same, Yui." she told her, "Don't let your family do anything reckless." "I'll try not to." Yui replied, "But it's almost impossible to stop them from doing such things, and I end up just following their lead." "You did pull off some crazy stuff yourself." Sora told her, "Like running to the crow to get the cat to attack it, to the battle with the Stealth Sneak. You've really changed a lot, Yui. But in a good way!" "You really think so?" Yui asked, looking from Sora to her parents. They nodded in response.

Asuna and Yui got off the bed as the four neared the window. "We'll lead ourselves this way." Kirito told her, "So as not to say a word to your parents." "See you around, Arrietty." said Asuna. "Bye, you guys." Arrietty replied, standing up and waving to them, "Come back soon!" "We will!" Yui responded eagerly, hopping last through the window before racing along the side of the house and out of the brick pile. They found a spot to teleport out in secret, and they left.

They arrived back at the Gummi Ship, where Donald and Goofy were fast asleep. "Hey guys. We're back." Kirito told them. Donald jolted himself awake while Goofy slowly opened his eyes. "How'd it go down there?" Donald asked as they got to their seats. "Pretty exciting place." Sora replied, "I wish you could've come. There was so much that we did." "That sounds kinda cool." said Goofy.

"So where to next?" Yui asked the team. "Let's backtrack to the crossroad again." Kirito replied, "We'll think of something from there." "Setting in coordinates." Yui responded, tapping at the computer, then they took off towards the crossroad again.

"So what was the world like?" Goofy asked. "Kinda interesting." Asuna replied, "You could say it was a rather 'small' world." Donald and Goofy looked to each other for a second, wondering what she meant. Then they had the same song come to their head. " It's a small world after all…" they begun singing. "You start singing THAT song, I'm throwing you out of the ship!" barked Kirito as the Gummi ship raced through the endless space.

* * *

**Well, that's another story done. I hope you enjoyed Yui's first Limit Break with Sora. I kinda set the attack along the same lines as Donald's or Goofy's Limit Breaks with Sora, Kirito and Asuna. But I hope the story was good for you guys.**

**In a side note, I keep getting people asking me for world suggestions. Let me tell you right now: I already have all the worlds planned for SAKII. No more suggestions, please. Trust me, they are good worlds. If you go back to SAK, you will know what worlds are picked. I repeat, no more suggestions for other worlds. Thank you.**

**Anyways, leave a review, tell your friends, and wait for the next episode**

* * *

**Next time on SAKII:**

**Sora: We're back in Yusnaan again!**

**Goofy: Wonder if Leafa, Riku and the gang have already made it here?**

**Kirito: Hey, look at that battle arena! Anybody wanna try it?**

**Yui: Hold on! Mama's gone missing!**

**Kirito: Asuna, where did you go? Asuna!**

**Author: On the next Sword Art Kingdom II: Dimensional Bonds: 'Asuna Missing? Unleash Soul Finale!'**

**Sora, Kirito & Asuna: Let's unlock the path to our bonded hearts!**


	9. Jiminy's Journal: Borrower's Borough!

**Here are the character biographies that were presented in this world:**

* * *

**Arrietty**

Origin: The Secret World of Arrietty

_A young Borrower who lives with her family. She is the first of the family to meet Sora, Kirito, Asuna and Yui, and trusts them a lot. She does her first Borrowing, but was discovered by the human boy, Shawn. Courageous, spirited, and not afraid to fight for her own rights._

* * *

**Shawn**

Origin: The Secret World of Arrietty

_A human boy who is staying at the house due to his weak and sickly condition. He discovers Arrietty, and wants to be friends with her. Gentle and kind, and although curious about Arrietty, he means no harm to her or the Borrowers._

* * *

**Homily**

Origin: The Secret World of Arrietty

_Arrietty's mother. She welcomes Sora, Kirito, Asuna and Yui in with open arms, and is ever so grateful to see her family isn't the only Borrowers left. She is mothering, yet extremely cautious, and scared about almost anything._

* * *

**Pod**

Origin: The Secret World of Arrietty

_Arrietty's Father. He is more of an explorer of the family. He allows Sora, Kirito, Asuna and Yui in Borrowing with Arrietty, while testing their skills to see how well of a Borrower they are. Calm under any circumstance, cautious about the human beings, yet a caring father to Arrietty._


	10. Asuna Missing? Unleash Soul Finale!

**This one came in faster than I imagined. I guess I was so excited on writing this story, that I couldn't stop writing! This contains so many new powers and skills that will surprise you, along with some cameo appearances. Read and enjoy!**

_(I do not own Kingdom Hearts or Sword Art Online. All I do is form my imagination from both stories, and share it with the world!)_

* * *

**Chapter 1: Returning to Yusnaan**

Once the team made it back to the crossroad they were at before, the Gummi ship came to a halt. "Okay, we're here." Yui told the team, "So should we go to the next world?" "That's what I want to ask everyone." Kirito replied, speaking to the group. "What d'ya mean?" Donald asked, "Is there a second choice?" Kirito nodded.

"I was thinking maybe we should double back to Yusnaan." he suggested. "Actually, I was thinking that, too." Sora told Kirito, "After all, Leafa said that she, Riku, Kairi and Recon were gonna go there. So we should go check up on them and make sure they're okay." Asuna did recall their talk with Leafa before, saying that they were making a second Gummi ship so they could go out into the dimension as well.

"But Leafa didn't say when they would be done." Goofy told them. "We can worry about that, later." Sora waved off Goofy's statement, "In any case, I wouldn't mind checking up on Light, Snow, Vaan and the gang." "So are we all in agreement?" Kirito asked the team. "Sure. Lets go!" Yui agreed. "To Yusnaan!" squawked Donald. "Let's go out there!" Goofy cheered. "I guess it's unanimous." Asuna stated, smiling at Kirito, who turned to Yui. "Yui, set the coordinates to our next destination; to Yusnaan!"

_(Cue opening song)_

It took several hours to get there, during which the team had a lunch that Asuna whipped up. She was very good at making great meals for the team, and everyone enjoyed her cooking, especially Sora. Other times, they talked to one another, Sora recalling some times when it was just him, Donald and Goofy. He even went further back to when he as a small boy, talking about how he spent his times with Riku and how he met Kairi.

"You and Riku were so close back then. It almost makes me think of you as brothers." Asuna stated. "Almost like me and Suguha." Kirito compared, "We may not be related, but we're still family." "Families and friends." Sora corrected him, "And no matter what, we always stuck together, even if he was drawn to the darkness."

"You really have a lot of faith in Riku." Asuna pointed out, "You kept saying that Riku kept trying to push you away during those times, but you always charged forward to him, making sure he and Kairi were safe. Tell me, what kept the faith you had in him?" Sora had to think about it for a second, then answered, "I guess part of it is because he was my best friend. I would never give up on my friendship with him."

"What's the other reason?" Kirito asked. "You could say it was…a sort of promise." "A promise?" Asuna repeated, "Yeah. It was so long ago, but I clearly remember this one girl, who looked around your guys' age, and she made me promise if Riku was in trouble or started wandering a dark path, I would help bring him back."

"What was this girl's name?" Asuna asked. "She didn't say." Sora replied, thinking back to that time, "But she sure was funny. She said one of us was special. But both of us became special enough. I mean, both Riku and I are Keyblade wielders, and we met so many new friends, including you guys." "We're glad we got to meet you too, Sora." Kirito agreed, smirking at him. Asuna smiled in agreement.

"We arrived at Yusnaan." Yui told the crew. The team looked out to see the world where the town of Yusnaan was at. "Last time we were here, we crash-landed into this place." Kirito recalled, "Let's make sure to go down there in better form." "Heh-heh. That was kinda fun, though." chuckled Sora. "That was NOT fun!" squawked Donald.

"Fun or not, let's go down there WITHOUT crashing, okay?" Asuna asked the team as she, Kirito and Goofy walked to the transporter. Yui tapped away at the keyboard as Sora and Donald joined them, then she dashed over as the transporter activated, and they were sent down to the surface.

The team arrived at the same spot Sora started off before; in front of the train station. The team looked all around the place. There were still people walking around the area, enjoying themselves going doing business. Things looked just as fine as how they left it.

"Back in Yusnaan again." Sora stated, observing the place. "Looks like the Heartless and Unversed haven't caused too much trouble here." Goofy pointed out. "I wonder where Lightning and the others are?" Kirito asked.

Just then, they heard a couple of people nearby them talking about something. "Hey, did ya hear? The Slaughterhouse is now open for business!" "Yeah, I heard! It's about time, too!" "What's the Slaughterhouse?" Asuna asked. "I don't know." Yui replied, "Let's keep listening." The team drew closer to the group of people talking with one another.

"I heard that Snow and Balthier is sponsoring that place." "Yeah, and that he's gathered up all the strange monsters appearing in town there, too. People can have a chance to fight against them for all to see!" "And it's not just the monsters, but other people, too!" "I even heard some other-worlders are participating in those battles. I wonder what they're like?"

"Forget that! What about the prizes?" "I heard that old hag from the magic shop set some of her merchandise as some of the prizes for today's tournament." "Eh?! That stingy blob did that?" "If it's her, then it's just some cheap products she owned." "Ah, who cares? Let's go to the Slaughterhouse to see the matches!"

The group walked away, leaving the six heroes standing there. "So there's some sort of tournament, eh?" Kirito said with a smirk. "Let me guess; you want to enter it, right?" Asuna asked, knowing his answer. "Of course! It's a great way to kill time, among other things." Kirito replied. "I wouldn't mind entering that tournament." Sora agreed, "It sounds like the Olympus Coliseum!" "Only we can enter without any problems!" Donald stated.

"But what about Leafa, Riku and the others?" Yui asked, "Shouldn't we look for them?" "Maybe they went to the tournament, too." Kirito assumed, "Leafa was starting to get interested in them." "And Riku wouldn't run away from a challenge like that." Sora added. "Then let's go to the Slaughterhouse!" Goofy proclaimed. "Yeah!" cheered Donald, Sora and Kirito. "Boys…" Asuna sighed.

As the team ran off to where the Slaughterhouse was at, Vanitas was sitting at a seat at a fine restaurant from above, looking down at them. "I knew they couldn't resist." he muttered as he watched them, "I think this is a good chance for me to talk to Asuna, one on one. I just need a way to give her an invitation…"

* * *

**Chapter 2: The Slaughterhouse Brawl**

The team winded themselves along the streets of Yusnaan, rounding a corner to a place they hadn't been to before. The exterior of the place had a sort of desert oasis look to it, with torches lit along the path and gates filled with Heartless and Unversed in a variety. In front of them was a gated archway with a door going into the battle arena, a potion shop on one side of the entrance, and a registration area on the other side.

"This place has got a more…exotic taste compared to Olympus Coliseum." Asuna pointed out, looking at the place. "I kinda like this place better." Kirito stated, "It's got a more dangerous feeling to it." "Hence the name 'Slaughterhouse'." followed Yui. "I can't wait to see what the arena looks like!" Sora stated eagerly, rushing to the entrance.

He was just about to enter when someone called out, "Hold on, young man. You shouldn't just charge into there without signing up for a battle." Sora doubled back to see the person at the registration desk and Snow right next to him.

The man was in his early twenties, and he had short brown hair and green eyes. He wore a golden, embroider vest, a white high collared shirt, black leather trousers with leather shin pads, two crossed belts across his waist, and steel, opened-backed sandals. He also had pouches on his waist, along with rings and bracelets on his left hand. Unknown to the heroes, he had a gun on his side of the desk.

"Hey ya, Snow!" Kirito greeted Snow next to the man. "Hey there, you guys. Back for a visit?" Snow asked as the others gathered around him. "We came to check up on you guys when we heard about this tournament." Kirito explained. "Hah! Thought this might attract you!" barked Snow, "Then again, it attracts all kinds of tough fighters out there. I even managed to wrangle up some Heartless and Unversed for the battle." "It certainly attracted these two." Asuna stated, pointing to Sora and Kirito.

"Well, If you want to enter this tournament, you're gonna have to ask Balthier her to sign you guys up." Snow explained, waving his hand to Balthier, who bowed to them. "Sitting in one place is not the life for a sky pirate and a leading man such as myself." Balthier stated, "But since the Heartless destroyed a lot of the world, there isn't a lot of places for a man such as myself to go to. So Snow helped me and Fran out by having us work here."

"Who's Fran?" Goofy asked. "My partner in crime." Balthier replied, then he looked outwards towards the cages and continuing, "She's in charge of the security of the Heartless and Unversed we have locked up. There she is right now." The team turned to see a rather tall woman walking among the cages with a bow in hand.

The first thing that struck Kirito's mind was how beautiful and unusual she was. She looked human, but she had some sort of rabbit characteristics among her. She was dark-skinned, had tall white ears, claw like fingernails, and a rabbit nose instead of a normal one. She had long white hair tied in a ponytail that came down to her waist like Cure Rhythm's back in Kanon Town, red eyes, and a black-armored piece of headgear that had openings for her rabbit ears and hair. Her black armor was revealing, like lacy lingerie, in a filigree style. She had on long armored stockings, high heals, and armor pieces on her forearms as well. Her quiver of bows were on her back.

A Scrapper Unversed was getting aggravated, shaking the bars. Fran took an arrow from her quicker, raised her bow, and shot down the Unversed, making it disappear. She made her way back to the group. "Careful there, Fran." Balthier told her, "We still need those things for the tournaments." "These beings are not natural whatsoever." Fran replied in a calm demeanor, "I would take them all down if I wanted to."

"Which is why we're here to take care of them." Sora told her, then turning to Balthier, "Sign our team up for the tournament! We can take care of the Heartless and Unversed for you!" "As much as I would like to sign all of you up, there is a catch." Balthier warned him, "This first tournament is the Mist Cup. Anyone can sign up for that. But you can only have three players per team. Either three of you sign up, or split into two groups."

The team looked to one another, then Sora decided, "In that case, have me, Kirito and Asuna signed up for this match. We can handle them." "Having three Keyblade wielders out in the Slaughterhouse tournaments? That'll be fun! Guess I'll bet my money on you guys." "We won't let you down." Kirito replied, smirking at Snow.

Sora, Kirito and Asuna signed up for the Mist Cup, and Fran led Donald, Goofy and Yui to the stands. The rules were already explained in the signup sheet, with some additional pieces. There were seven rounds, and another team joined the tournament with them, along with all the Heartless teams. With all that settled, the trio marched into the arena, ready for the match.

As they entered, they found the arena wide and spacious. There was nothing but the sandy field beneath them. The stands stood high in a circle around the arena, and the fans were cheering for them as they entered the arena. They waved to the crowd, seeing all of the people cheering for them. They found Snow next to Donald, Goofy and Yui, who were cheering their hearts out.

"Okay, fans, this is it!" Balthier's voice boomed over the loudspeaker, "We have a few new fighters to enter the stage today. May I present the trio with incredible strengths; the chosen wielders of the legendary Keyblade, Sora, Kirito and Asuna!" The crowd cheered even more as the team stood in the center of the arena. "These people can really make a guy feel welcome." Kirito stated sarcastically as Asuna waved, smiling at the crowd. "This is so amazing!" Sora exclaimed eagerly, "Bring on the battles!"

"These combatants must go through seven different rounds, facing numerous and dangerous opponents." Balthier continued, "But beware; another team has also joined the battle, and they want to win just as much as these three. And I'm your leading man in commentating; Balthier. So with that, let the great Mist Cup tournament commence!" A bell sounded, along with the first round of Heartless and Unversed. "Let's go, Kirito! Asuna!" cheered Sora. "Right!" the two responded, and they charged ahead at the opponents.

For the first six matches, the team had to deal with a variety of Heartless and Unversed that were set upon them. They used every trick they had to take them down, from magic to skills, to their Limit and Soul Drive Forms. Balthier was commentating their battles as they fought. Donald, Goofy and Yui were cheering for them with all they had. Lightning had even joined Snow as the two watched the match. On another part of the stadium, Vanitas was sitting near the front row, concealed by the crowd as he watched each round go by.

Once the team's sixth match was over, they stood in the center of the arena, waiting. "That was too easy!" cheered Sora. "Don't jinx it, Sora." Asuna warned him. "No, he was right." Kirito agreed, "Let's hope the final round gives us a suitable matchup." "Sounds to me like these three want a stronger challenge!" said Balthier, "Then let's give em' one!" The crowd cheered in agreement.

The team watched as they saw a large metal gate opening, and three human figures were walking their way through the dark tunnel into the arena. "In this corner, facing the Keyblade wielder trio, are the challengers. They come from world unknown, and have come here to challenge themselves against overwhelming odds. They keep fighting as a team, and never give up the passion for a new future!"

The three figures came into the battle arena. They were three girls, two about Sora's age, and one slightly younger than the two. However, with their attire, the trio immediately thought of Cure Melody and Rhythm back in Kanon Town.

The central girl had short orange hair, brown eyes, and a black and pink uniform with white frills. The second girl had long dark blue hair in a ponytail, dark blue eyes, and a white and blue uniform that looked a little less sporty as the central girl. The younger one had long yellow blonde hair in two shaggy ponytails, dark yellow eyes, and a pink and white uniform. All three had ribbons on their chest with a heart on them.

"These three may be young girls, but they are a powerful force together. May I present: Cure Black, Cure White, and Shiny Luminous. Together, they are the Max Heart Pretty Cure!" The crowd cheered at their presence as the trio stepped closer to Sora, Kirito and Asuna.

* * *

**Chapter 3: Message in a Battle**

"Max Heart…" Asuna started. "…Pretty Cure?" Sora and Kirito ended in unison. "So you guys are our final opponents?" Black asked them, coming to a stop several meters from them. "It's nice to meet you three." White greeted them, "Let's have a good match together, okay?"

"Wait, there are more Pretty Cures?" Asuna asked, "And I thought Cure Melody and Rhythm were the only ones." "You guys met those two?" Luminous asked, surprised. "Yeah. We visited their world a while back. They and Hummy are great friends of ours." Sora responded, "Are they your friends, too?" "They sure are!" Black responded eagerly, "Guess that means that the world is still okay even if we aren't there!" Luminous and White both smiled happily.

"Now that he have the meet and greet over and done with, lets get back to the fight." Kirito told them, raising his Keyblade, "Better prepare to lose." "I was gonna say the same thing to you!" Black replied, raising her fists. The other four combatants got into battle position as well, ready to fight. "Lets see which side does Lady Luck favor today!" boomed Balthier as the crowd started cheering, "Let the battle begin!"

The moment the bell rang, Kirito and Cure Black charged at one another. Black's fist made contact with Kirito's Keyblade, both evenly matched. The two jumped high into the air as Asuna and White swiftly came at one another, striking and evading each other in every way possible. That left Sora against Luminous. Sora made a running leap to dive at her, but Luminous placed up a barrier to protect herself, blocking Sora's attack and sending him backwards.

The two teams were locked in battle with one another; Kirito and Black were in a battle of strength, Asuna and White were in a battle of speed, and Sora was dealing with Luminous' defenses. Both parties couldn't get an edge against one another at first, but after a while, the trio of Keyblade wielders were starting to have them beat.

"I got you now!" declared Sora as he charged headlong at Luminous again, who conjured a heart-shaped object that turned into a baton. "_Heartiel Action!_" Luminous cried as he baton started to spin by itself in front of her. A burst of energy was shot at Sora, and it coated him, making him freeze in mid run. "What this?" Sora asked, his mouth the only thing able to move.

"Sora!" Asuna gasped, seeing what happened. Her distraction gave her the chance. She quickly raced towards Black, who skidded back from an attack from Kirito. "Black!" White called out to her. "Right, let's go!" Black responded. Asuna noticed where White went, and rejoined Kirito as the two Pretty Cures readied themselves, holding hands while raising their outer hands.

"_Black Thunder!_" shouted Black. "_White Thunder!_" shouted White. Both kinds of thunder they called for fell from the sky into their open palms. "What's going on?" Kirito asked. "Probably one of their stronger attacks." Asuna assumed, "We need to counter it. Let's use Blizzard." Kirito nodded, and the two raised their Keyblades as Black and White pulled back their fists.

"_Pretty Cure Marble Screw!_" the two shouted. "_Blizzard!_" shouted Kirito and Asuna, shooting an icy shard from each of their Keyblades at the two. "_…Max!_" The Pretty Cures shouted, and a large beam of black and white energy shot from their open hands, blasting through the Blizzard, and hitting the two.

Both Kirito and Asuna cried in pain as they were sent hurdling backwards, slamming into the frozen Sora's position, shattering the hold on him, and carrying him with them. They crashed to one side of the wall, forming a crater out of it and sending a dust cloud flying.

The crowd cheered after the attack was done, and the trio of Pretty Cures gathered together, high-fiving each other as Sora, Kirito and Asuna all were on the ground. "Damn, they're strong!" Kirito groaned as he struggled to get up again. "They're probably stronger than even Cure Melody and Rhythm." Asuna compared, getting on her hands and knees.

They turned to Sora, who hadn't said a word since he started getting up, too. They were surprised to see the smile on his face. "Oh man, they're good!" Sora chuckled, "Their teamwork is really incredible." He turned to Kirito and Asuna on either side of him. "We should try not fighting alone here. Let's team up and take them down, alright?" Asuna and Kirito smiled and nodded.

Asuna raised her Keyblade. "_Cure!_" she cried, and the trio's wounds were healed. The Pretty Cures stopped celebrating to see the other three get up to their feet again, still determined to fight. "They can still fight?" Black gasped, "I don't believe this!" "They wouldn't be here if they weren't this strong." White told her. "Then we should give them our best attack!" Luminous proclaimed. The trio nodded in response.

Kirito and Sora stepped forward while Asuna stood behind them. "Sora, can you feel it?" Kirito asked. Sora nodded. "It's like I can feel a whole new powerful attack for the two of us." He described. "What power are you talking about?" Asuna asked them. Kirito and Sora looked to her. "Dunno, but it's something us two can do." Kirito replied. He turned to Sora. "Let's try it out right now!" he proclaimed. "You read my mind." Sora agreed.

As Kirito and Sora took several steps forward, Asuna watched the two boys. Suddenly, a note fell from behind, and came in contact with Asuna's shoulder. She looked to it and took it into both hands. She looked up to see where the note came from, but no one was there. She looked down at it. It was addressed to her. She opened it and read the letter. Then her eyes became shocked. _Wha…What does this mean?!_ she thought to herself, looking back again, _Is it really true?_

Kirito and Sora stopped walking and prepared themselves as Luminous' baton folded back into the heart-shaped object. "You ready?" Kirito asked Sora. "Ready as I'll ever be." he replied. The two whipped out their Keyblades, and drew two Xs in front of them; one green, one yellow. At the same time, Luminous slammed her hands into her weapon, and a blast of rainbow energy surged out, surrounding Black and White.

"_Cross Burst!_" Kirito and Sora shouted in unison, and their Xs melded together, making a half-yellow, half-green X. The X settled itself onto the ground beneath their feet, and the two stood in between the X, enveloped by a green and yellow aura. They floated into the air in unison, and focused themselves on their target: the Pretty Cures.

"_Spiral…_" Sora started. "_…Stream!_" Kirito shouted. The two immediately rocketed towards their opponents, Their Keyblades out front, the energy streaming around and behind them. They started spiraling around each other until they melded together, forming a green and white shooting star, the energy bursting from their body.

At the same time, Black and White readied themselves, surrounded by Luminous' power. "_Abundant courage!_" chanted Black, striking a pose. "_Overflowing hope!_" chanted White, also striking a pose. "_Together with the embrace of sparkling light!_" Luminous cried, holding her weapon tight as the energy continued to fly. Black and White held hands again. "_Extreme…_" Black and White started. "_…Luminario!_" Luminous shouted, and the team sent an explosion of golden mist energy from a heart-shaped form of Luminous' power.

The two powerful attacks charged at one another, each side shouting a war cry as they drew closer together. Both attacks collided, and there was an explosion of energy that surrounded the stadium, the gust from the impacting the people at their seats. Donald was struggling to hold onto Goofy's neck as Yui gripped her seat. Snow and Lightning didn't need to hold onto something, but the impact sure surprised them. "Such power!" Lightning gasped. "Woah ho ho, man!" laughed Snow, holding onto his hat before it flew away.

Both parties struggled to push the other away, but after a few seconds, Kirito and Sora bursted right through the mist, and charged at the shocked Pretty Cures. They made contact, and sent them hurdling so strongly, that they individually slammed into the walls on their side, making big craters in the wall. They fell to the ground, unable to move any more as Sora and Kirito stood there. Several seconds went by, but the Pretty Cures could do nothing but groan in pain.

"And it's over!" Balthier shouted, "The winners of this Cup are…the Keyblade Trio!" The crowds erupted in cheers for the winners of the battle. Donald, Goofy and Yui were the loudest of the crowd.

Kirito and Sora looked to each other, surprised. "What was that power?" Kirito asked. "No clue…but it was epic!" cheered Sora, jumping up and punching the air, "Did you see that? We just combined our attacks and just…whoosh! It was like an instant knockout!" "It felt like our Limit Break, only different." Kirito stated, looking at his hands, "Could that mean our Limit Break had changed, or was that something else?"

The groaning of the Pretty Cures caught the two's ears, and they rushed over to each of them. Kirito gave Black a potion to drink while Sora healed the other two with magic. Once her health was restored, Black got to her feet again. "That was unbelievable." she sighed, scratching her head, "I mean, you two just broke through the Extreme Luminario!" "You guys are really strong!" White acknowledged them as Luminous got to her feet.

"Hey, you gave us a run for our money as well." Kirito responded, "It was just luck that brought us to that new power." "You're really strong!" Sora added, "That last attack of yours was super tough! I'm thankful we survived that." The five looked to one another, smiling. "Great battle out there." Black stated, raising her hand to Kirito. "Thanks." Kirito replied, grabbing her hand and shaking it, "I hope you get back home safely." "We will!" Black responded happily. Sora was shaking hands with both White and Luminous.

"Hey, Asuna." Kirito called out, turning around, "What did you think about…" It was then that he noticed something; Asuna was no longer there. He looked around. She wasn't in the arena. "Where'd she go?" Kirito asked, confused. Sora and the Pretty Cures looked around to see she had disappeared, too. "Asuna?" Sora called out, looking around. "Asuna?!" Kirito shouted. No reply. Asuna had disappeared.

* * *

**Chapter 4: Asuna vs. Vanitas**

Sora and Kirito rushed out of the arena and looked around. Asuna was nowhere to be seen. "Where did she go?" Sora asked, "It's not like her to just leave without telling us." "Not unless something caused her to leave without telling us." Kirito guessed, "But what could it be?"

"Papa! Sora!" cried Yui's voice. The two turned to see Donald, Goofy and Yui rush up to them, with Snow and Lightning behind them. "Yui!" Kirito called out her to her as their grouped joined the duo. "What's goin' on?" Goofy asked. "Asuna's missing!" Sora explained, "Did any of you guys see where she went?" "Sorry, but we didn't." Yui replied woefully. "We were too busy watching you guys defeat the Pretty Cure with that attack." Donald explained, "When it was over, Asuna disappeared."

"Did you guys see anything strange about her?" Kirito asked them. Donald and Yui shook their heads. "Wait, I think I did!" said Goofy, "I think I saw her reading somethin'." "What was it?" Kirito asked. "It looked like a letter." Goofy replied, "She did seemed distressed when she read it."

Kirito and Sora looked to each other. Whatever was on that letter must've been the reason she left the stadium. But what could've caused so much shock, that she would leave them without saying a word? And who gave her that letter?

"I saw who the culprit was." Lightning stated as she joined the group. "Who was it?" Sora asked. "I couldn't really tell WHO it was." Lightning answered, "But I do know he was wearing a full body suit and a black visored mask…" All five heroes gasped. Vanitas. But if it was him, what did he say in the letter?

"We gotta go find her!" Kirito proclaimed. "I agree." replied Sora, "If it's Vanitas, she's more than likely walking into a trap!" Kirito looked shocked. Why would Asuna trust his words? Unless she didn't know who sent the letter. That would've made sense if she actually did know.

"Papa!" cried Yui, tugging at Kirito's sleeve. Kirito snapped out of the questions that buzzed through his mind, and looked down at her. "Right, let's go find her!" Kirito stated, turning to the group, "She must be in town. Let's split up and look for her." The team nodded in response. The team exited the Slaughterhouse and took two different directions; Kirito, Lightning and Goofy took one way, Sora, Donald, Yui and Snow took another.

The team started racing along the streets, searching for clues as to where Asuna went to. They asked around, but so far got no replies. They checked the Cactaur Plaza, Auger's Quarter, Glutton's Quarter, even Sazh's workshop. Nothing. No one had seen her, and no one knew where she went.

While checking down the Market Street, Kirito's group had just exited the DoReMi magic shop. "She's gotta be around her somewhere!" Kirito growled, frustrated by the fact that they couldn't find her. "Easy there, Kirito." Goofy told him. "Anger will only lead to bad judgement." Lightning quoted. Kirito tried to calm himself down, but he was just too worried about her. He still remember Vanitas back in Pit's World, saying that Asuna was his main target from a long time ago.

"Hey, is something wrong?" Serah was walking up to their group, looking at the expression on Kirito. Mog was right next to her. "We're trying to find Asuna right now." Lightning explained to her sister, "We've searched all over the place, but she's…"

"I saw her." Serah said abruptly. The three turned to her, shocked. "Where? And when?!" Kirito demanded. "Just along here, about five minutes ago." Serah replied, "I tried calling to her, but she seemed to out of it. It's like she was focused on something." "Which way did she go?" Lightning asked. "Towards the Industrial Area." Serah replied, pointing down the street. Kirito didn't waste any time, and charged along the street towards the Industrial Area, with Lightning and Goofy at his heels.

Meanwhile, Asuna was walking through the deep parts of the Industrial Area, walking past all kinds of metal crates and warehouses. She was determined to arrive at her destination, no matter what. Several Unversed came into her path, and she sliced them down with ease. Nothing would block her path. She was still carrying the letter in her non-sword hand. The words within it still rang through Asuna's head.

_I know about Aqua. Leave the others and come to me alone at the deep part of the Industrial Area. I'll tell you all I know about Aqua, and how you know her._

_-V_

Asuna knew who wrote the letter, and she knew it was a trap of some kind. Nevertheless, if it meant more info about Aqua, and about what's her connection to that girl, then she had to know.

She didn't tell Kirito, nor anyone else this, but most nights, she started having dreams of Aqua, sitting on the same dark beach she once went to with Kirito, Sora and Riku. She would stare out to the ocean, her eyes glowing with the moon. And her voice always said the same words every time; "I'll be waiting…" Asuna kept trying to reach her, but every time she came close to touching her, she would wake up from the dream.

Asuna finally reached the end of the Industrial Area, in a rather open space surrounded by machinery parts for a factory. She walked towards the center of the space and looked around, waiting. "So you came alone after all." said a sly voice. She looked up to see Vanitas sitting on one of the metal pipes. He leapt down from his position and landed right in front of Asuna.

"I got your letter, 'V'." Asuna sarcastically stated, dropping the letter and raising her Keyblade at Vanitas, "Now tell me, what do you know about Aqua?" Vanitas didn't say anything at first, then he started, "You really are that desperate, aren't you?" Asuna looked annoyed. "You try to find a way to seek answers, that you will even betray your friends just to figure them out."

"Shut up!" barked Asuna, infuriated by these words, "Don't you dare put me down to your level! I haven't betrayed any of my friends! You told me to come here by myself to find out more about Aqua, and that's what I did!" "I did say you should come alone." Vanitas agreed, "But did you tell them what you were doing?" Asuna wanted to answer, but instead she stayed quiet.

"Exactly." Vanitas confirmed, "You didn't tell them because you don't think they'll trust you to deal with this problem all on your own. Deep down, you know that it is true. You're no where near as strong as Sora and Kirito. All you can do is hold onto their hands and hope you can be of some benefit." "You're wrong…" Asuna denied, but Vanitas' words were starting to get to her a bit. She lowered her Keyblade a bit, thinking about what he was saying, "I am more than that. I am stronger than what you make me out as!"

_(Cue Kingdom Hearts 'Vim & Vigor')_

"Then let's prove it then." Vanitas stated, producing his Void Gear Keyblade and getting into battle position, "Let me see what kind of power you have. If you can beat me, I will tell you all that I know about Aqua." "And if I lose?" Asuna asked, also getting to her fighting stance. "Well…that'll just be one less Keyblade wielder I have to deal with." Vanitas replied. With his free hand, he snapped his fingers. An invisible barrier surrounded the area, blocking any means of escaping. Asuna was on her own, fighting against Vanitas.

Asuna dove at Vanitas, attempting to stab him, but he casually sidestepped the attack. He then countered with a slash from his own Keyblade, sending Asuna yelping away, rolling on the ground until she stopped. She got to her feet again, removing any distractions in her thoughts as Vanitas jumped up and sent black lightning at her. Asuna flipped up and avoided the attack, then performed a Quick Run to get in closer to Vanitas. She slashed him several times, sending him backwards, but he then disappeared in an afterimage, and appeared above Asuna, nearly hitting her if she hadn't jumped to the side in time.

Asuna shot a Blizzard Spell, hitting Vanitas, and he in returned shot a fireball at Asuna, which divided into three smaller ones and homed in on Asuna. She saw them coming, and slashed one of them, but got hit by the other two, causing fiery explosions. Asuna shrugged off the attack and charged at Vanitas, who charged at her just the same. They clashed Keyblades, causing a huge shockwave around them, and sending dust flying upwards.

Near the entrance of the Industrial Area, Kirito, Lightning and Snow witnessed the billowing of dust from far away. "What was that?" Goofy asked, raising his hand over his eyes to focus. "I feel a strong battle is going on over there." Lightning stated. Kirito looked to her, then to where the attack came from. They heard another explosion from there, and more dust flew into the sky. "Asuna!" Kirito gasped, and he raced towards the area. "Wait up, Kirito!" Goofy called out as he and Lightning followed.

Meanwhile, in Auger's Quarter, Yui stopped as she felt something. Sora, Donald and Snow stopped and turned to her. "What's up?" Snow asked. "Mama…" Yui muttered, "I feel her presence!" "Are you sure?" Sora asked hurriedly. "Positive." Yui replied, "Though I can't say for sure how I know. I can just tell that she's in danger."

"Where is she?" Sora asked. Yui looked in every direction before pointing one way. "That's where the Industrial Area is at." Snow noticed. "Then let's go there!" Sora declared, and the four raced towards where Asuna was at.

* * *

**Chapter 5: Asuna's Bond Bursts Forth!**

Back in the battle, Asuna was once again pushed away from Vanitas' attack. She skidded to a halt as Vanitas dove into the ground. Asuna wondered where he went to until the ground beneath her erupted, and Vanitas came flying out, sending Asuna flying in pain. She spun as she descended and landed onto her feet again.

She used Thunder, and Vanitas was electrocuted. He countered with his dark lightning, but Asuna quickly avoided that, came up from behind, and struck him. He used his afterimage, and came up from behind her, striking Asuna and causing her to fall to the ground.

Asuna struggled to get up again, pulling out a potion and drinking it, restoring her health. _What's going on?_ she thought to herself, _Vanitas did not have this much strength back at the Lunar Sanctum._ "Don't think of me as the same pushover as before." Vanitas warned her, almost like he read her thoughts, "I have much more power than that." Asuna gritted her teeth, realizing how difficult this challenge is gonna be.

"Asuna!" shouted Kirito's voice. Asuna turned to the entrance into the space to see Kirito leading Lightning and Goofy towards them. "Kirito!" Asuna cried, shocked that he found her.

Kirito tried to run into the battle, but Vanitas' barrier was still up, and he and Goofy rammed into it and fell to the ground. "I see your boyfriend decided to come and watch you fall by my hands." Vanitas snorted, seeing Kirito get up and press his hands against the barrier.

"Asuna! Are you okay?" Kirito called out to her. "Yeah, but…" Asuna stammered, "How did you find me?" "Serah saw you." Kirito explained, "Dammit, why did you have to go off on your own like this?!" "I'm sorry." Asuna apologized, looking shameful, then confidently stated, "But I had to know. I had to learn more about Aqua!" She turned back to Vanitas, her Keyblade raised, and her heart set. "Asuna…" muttered Kirito.

"You really are a weak and stupid girl." Vanitas sassed at her, "Here you are, fighting for some mere information. Something that you hope will relieve you of your worries, only to figure out you don't have the strength nor the determination to get it!" "Shut up, Vanitas!" barked Kirito, "Asuna has more than enough strength and determination than you think! She can take you down easily!"

"You mean if she's with you." Vanitas stated, "If she has her friends to protect her, she will have the power to beat me. But look; she's on her own now. No way can she do anything on her own." "You don't know anything about Asuna!" Kirito retorted, "If she was really that weak, would I trust her to be able to fight on her own? Asuna as powerful as me or Sora, and you know it!" Asuna was surprised at how much trust Kirito had in her fighting strength. Of course he did. Kirito never once though of her as an underdog, but as his equal.

"Big deal!" Vanitas stated, "If she doesn't have the strength, then there's no point in her trying to fight…" But his sentence was stopped by Asuna's fast-acting jab, which sent Vanitas skidding back. He looked up to see Asuna standing there her Keyblade pointing at him from the jab. "I'm sorry. But weren't you saying something about me not having the strength?" "Asuna." Kirito said with a relieving smile.

"You little…" sneered Vanitas, and he charged at her, his Keyblade at the ready. Asuna's eyes flashed, featuring blue eyes for only a second before reverting back to hazel. Vanitas struck, but to his and everyone's amazement, Asuna performed a Cartwheel, spinning away from the attack, and coming around with an attack of her own, sending Vanitas flying.

He flipped in midair to land onto his feet, but he was still surprised. That technique Asuna just performed. That was the same dodging technique as Aqua's. Asuna was looking determinately at her opponent, but deep down, she was surprised that she performed that trick so easily. "That was a great dodge!" cheered Goofy. "She sure surprised me." Kirito stated, looking at her. "Asuna's just full of surprises." Lightning stated.

The fighting ensued, and Asuna was now moving with a new sense of determination, using all the skills and magic she had in fighting against Vanitas, who kept her on the edge as he could. Asuna's new found dodging skill made things a lot more interesting, and it was a lot like Vanitas' sidestep maneuver. The two kept clashing, kept countering blow for blow, and dodging attacks they set upon each other whenever possible.

Kirito, Lightning and Goofy continued to watch the match, hoping for Asuna to win the battle. "Kirito! Lightning! Goofy!" called Sora's voice, and the trio turned to see Sora's party join theirs. "Finally found us, huh?" Lightning asked Snow as they drew near. "Hey, we had no idea where you guys were until Yui said she felt her mother's presence." Snow explained, turning to Yui, who was in front with Kirito and Sora, watching the fight between Asuna and Vanitas go on.

"Mama!" cried Yui, pressing her hands against the barrier that surrounded the battlefield. "Can't we do anything?" Sora asked Kirito. "Asuna made this choice. It's up to her to beat Vanitas." Kirito replied firmly. Sora looked to Kirito, then to the battle, desperately thinking of a way around the barrier. Donald got in front with his magic staff, winded it up, and slammed it into the barrier. It only caused his whole body to shake from the impact, then he fell over.

Asuna doubled back from a triple barrage of homing fireballs. She jumped up and fired a Blizzard at the first two, then slashed the last one. She failed to notice Vanitas get behind her and back slash her, sending her crashing into the ground, producing a dust cloud. As he descended, Asuna dove out of the dust cloud with a Quick Run, spinning around to face Vanitas again. She was breathing heavily from exhaustion, not sure how long she could last against him.

"You look a little tired." Vanitas pointed out, seeing Asuna standing there, "Why don't you just give up now. You won't be able to win in your condition. Or are you just waiting for your friends to protect you again?" Asuna was getting really annoyed with Vanitas' taunts.

"Stop saying that, will ya?!" Asuna shouted at him, "You keep saying the same thing over and over; I can't fight without my friends, I need their protection. Ever heard of a little thing called 'teamwork'? We rely on each other when we fight together. I need them just like they need me!"

"And yet Aqua faced me in the past, and had beaten me on her own a couple times." Vanitas pointed out. Asuna was shocked to hear Vanitas say something about her. "That's right. Aqua was a powerful Keyblade master back then." Vanitas explained, "She didn't need her friends to save her. She had only herself. Three times, we fought against each other. And three times, she defeated me. And she didn't need anyone else's help to stop me. So tell me, Asuna; what can you do against me if you are too reliable on your friends?"

Asuna was at a loss for words. Was what Vanitas saying true? Did Aqua have so much strength to fight against the forces of darkness, that she didn't need anybody's help? The distraction gave Vanitas a chance, and he ran in close and performed a series of slashes onto Asuna, damaging her incredibly. He then shot dark lighting at her, and she was electrocuted by the attack. She collapsed to the ground, unable to move from the pain she was dealt with. Vanitas started to laugh at the sight of her. "Asuna!" Sora and Kirito shouted. "Mama!" Yui cried.

Vanitas' words rang through Asuna's head, while the rest of her body was ringing with the pain she just endured. She was feeling utterly helpless. How was she able to fight against Vanitas on her own without her friends? Was there a secret that Aqua had that allowed her to beat Vanitas like she said before? What was it? The doubt in her heart was starting to grow, and she couldn't bear it.

"Asuna, get up!" shouted a voice. Vanitas looked towards the team who was standing at the entrance. Asuna weakly opened her eyes, and turned towards the same direction. Riku was there, and so was Leafa, standing in between Sora and Kirito. Kairi and Recon were right next to Donald, Goofy, Lightning and Snow. "Riku! Kairi!" Sora cried eagerly. "Leafa! Recon!" gasped Kirito.

"I can't believe I'm seeing you like this, Asuna!" barked Leafa, "I thought you were stronger than this!" Asuna was somewhat too weak to respond to her. "Asuna, what Vanitas is saying is false!" Riku stated, "I may not know Aqua, but I do know she wasn't alone. I sure as hell wasn't alone, even when I walked the path of darkness! I had Mickey, and Sora, and all the people who still believed in me. And even if they aren't there in person, their hearts are still linked to mine, giving me the strength to keep fighting! The same went for Aqua. She had those other guys; Terra and Ventus. Their hearts gave her power!" Asuna's eyes widened slightly.

"He's right!" Sora agreed, "Even if we're on our own, that doesn't mean that we're alone. We've got friends who count on us. People who believe we can overcome any obstacle!" "Asuna…I believe in you." Kirito stated, "I know you can beat Vanitas right here, right now. After all, you're the Lightning Flash Asuna. Former second in command of the Knights of the Blood Oath. And also the person who I give my life to if needed. You have more than enough strength to beat anything, cause you've got all our hearts along side you!"

Asuna's eyes were showing signs of inspiration. The words that the team was saying to her. They were right. She went down the list of all her friends she had. From her friends in SAO and ALO, to those that reside in Disney Castle. To Riku, Kairi, Leafa, Recon. Then to Lightning, Snow, Vaan, Donald, Goofy, Yui. Finally, Sora and Kirito, who's hearts were there, within her. All of their hearts were within her.

Asuna also felt another heart; Aqua's. She saw her sitting along the shoreline of the Dark Margin again, only this time, she turned to Asuna and smiled at her. "I'll be waiting for you." she told her.

Asuna's hand curled into a fist. She felt her strength starting to come back to her. Her hand slipped underneath the handle of her Keyblade and gripped it tight. "_Cure!_" Asuna gasped, and the light of the Keyblade restored her strength again. Vanitas turned back to Asuna as she got to her feet again, the determination reset in her eyes. "Go for it, Asuna!" cheered Sora. "Take him down." Kirito told her. Asuna nodded and said, "You got it."

"Oh, please." Vanitas sighed, "People's hearts are within yours? What a lame excuse. All the hearts in the world won't be able to get you any stronger. You're just wasting your energy!" "You're wrong about that." Asuna retorted, stopping Vanitas, "I have more than enough strength to conjure any adversary that comes my way, even you. And it's for the same reason why Aqua was able to beat you!"

She flicked her Keyblade down, and through Vanitas' eyes, he saw Asuna standing there, and the ghostly image of Aqua, standing in the same battle position, "I'm sick of your nonsense!" both Asuna and Aqua's voice shouted, "This ends now!" Vanitas looked down slightly, then started to laugh. "It was just like back then." he said to himself, then he got into battle position as well, "Very well, then. Let's see what kind of strength these hearts give you!"

"I plan to!" Asuna replied, her body glowing, "_Savior Soul!_" Her body bursted with energy. In a cutscene, Asuna's Savior Form presented itself piece by piece, ending with her piece of hair falling over her shoulder. She landed onto the ground, causing a thunder shockwave at her feet. She stood straight up as she closed here eyes, her Keyblade in front of her face. "_In a bright flash…I awaken, and strike!_" she chanted calmly, opening her eyes and whipping her Keyblade to one side as she struck a pose.

Asuna and Vanitas begun to clash once more, only Asuna was at a whole different level than before. Her combination of techniques merged with the newfound strength within her made her more than a formidable opponent to Vanitas. No matter what trick he pulled, Asuna had a counter attack, dishing out more damage to him than before.

Vanitas slashed Asuna away from him, but he was somewhat surprised. "You really do have more strength than what I thought." he commended. "You have no idea." Asuna responded, and her whole body started to emit a bright pink aura. Lightning looked startled. "She's going to use the Soul Finale!" she gasped. "Soul Finale?" Kairi echoed. "What's that?" Recon asked. "The Soul Drive Form's Limit Break." Lightning explained, "It's an incredibly powerful attack, but it uses up all of its' Drive Gauge to do so."

Asuna tossed her Keyblade high into the air, and held her hand up high. "_Odin! Lend me your strength!_" she shouted. A new weapon came down, a double-bladed sword with the blades almost like scythes, forming an S-shape. It was called the Gagnrad. The sword fell to Asuna, and she grabbed the handle. She grasped with both hands, and disconnected it into two separate swords. She whipped the two blades out, and a flourish of rose petals surrounded her.

In a split second, Asuna came in close to Vanitas, and started slicing him in a flurry of combo strikes. Every slice she did not only caused heavy damage, but also produced flower petals with every strike. The attack was both brutal and beautiful as the team watched Asuna continue the attack.

At the final attack, Asuna jumped into the air, connected the two blades once more, and raised it above her head, spinning it. "_The storm is here!_" she chanted as a swirl of wind and rose petals stirred around her. Vanitas was carried into the attack, bringing him into Asuna's view. Then with one final slash, Asuna sliced all around her, cutting the wind and Vanitas in one feel swoop. The attack even penetrated right through Vanitas' barrier, and the team had to endure the swirling gust of wind that passed them.

Asuna landed onto her feet while Vanitas fell onto his back, still. Asuna brought the Gragnrad down, then held it sideways in front of her. "_Thank you, my friend._" she chanted as the silhouette of the arm of Odin grasped the sword and carried it upwards. Then from the sky, Asuna's Keyblade came back down just as she reverted back to her normal form. Asuna grabbed her Keyblade and brought it down to her side. She looked to Vanitas, who was as still as he could be. Asuna had just defeated him.

* * *

**Chapter 6: The Key Within**

The barrier lifted, and Kirito and Yui were the first to rush over to Asuna, who dismissed her Keyblade. "Mama!" Yui cheered as she leapt into Asuna's arms. They hugged one another, and Yui was thankful her mother was okay. Kirito placed a hand on Asuna's shoulder, and she looked to him. "You were amazing out there, Asuna." he told her. Asuna smiled happily in response. "I couldn't have done it without your guys' support." she responded.

"That was such a cool attack!" Sora exclaimed, rushing up to her as everyone walked from behind, "I really enjoyed that whole whirlwind slash move you did at the last strike. How did you do that?" Asuna thought for a second, then answered, "I can't really say for sure, but I guess the Soul Drive just responded to my heart in some way."

"That is how the Soul Finale works." Lightning explained, "It will never come to you unless you fully embrace the connection of the soul within that Drive Form. Your heart bonded with mine, and created that attack." Asuna let go of Yui as she answered, "I guess I have to remember that next time. And I should use it at just the right time. Can't waste the Soul Drive's strength."

"But what are we gonna do about him?" Riku asked, turning to Vanitas' body. The team turned to it as well, wondering. "Lets get rid of it." Kirito answered, "Toss him into the ocean or something." "Still…" Sora started, walking towards it and looking down, "Ya gotta wonder what his face really looks like." He reached down to take it off, but before he did, a gust of wind came out of nowhere, and pushed Sora, along with anyone else close to Vanitas' body, away.

They skidded to a halt and looked up. A man in a dark cloak stood high above them, with dark green cross-straps going across his shoulders to his waist. He also wore a hood over his head, masking his face. "Who's that?" Kirito gasped. Riku mind shortly flashed to the time he saw the man in the brown cloak, almost like the man that stood above them now.

"My, my, Vanitas." the man's deep voice said, looking down at the group, "I leave you to do your real duty, and here I find you; defeated by these foolish children." Vanitas didn't say anything at first, then to everyone's shock, Vanitas flipped himself up onto his feet again. "My apologies, master." he responded, "I was just having a little fun with this girl. But don't worry, I haven't forgotten our mission."

Vanitas raised his hand and produced his Keyblade again. The team looked prepared to fight him. However, Vanitas had a different agenda. He stuck his Keyblade out point first, directing it at Asuna, and it started to glow. A dark beam shot out, and struck Asuna's chest. She gasped in pain as the others watched, shocked. "Asuna!" cried Kirito as she started to fall backwards.

The beam of dark light retracted itself, and a black orb came out of Asuna's chest, with a white, jagged symbol on it that looked like a distorted form of the celtic symbol of trust. Sora and Kirito grabbed the unconscious Asuna before she fell as Vanitas held out one hand, and took the black orb.

"Looks like you were right again, master." Vanitas stated, turning to the cloaked man and raising the orb. "What did you do to Asuna?!" demanded Leafa as she, Riku and Yui produced their weapons. "I simply took the Key of Doubt that was stored within her out." he replied casually, "Don't worry, she'll live. It would be a shame to kill her in such a simple manner. Besides, I think she's proven enough about how powerful your 'bonds' are."

"Come, Vanitas." ordered the hooded man, "There are still more Keys of Darkness we need to collect!" "Yes, master." Vanitas replied. Both he and the hooded man produced back portals, and they stepped within them and disappeared. "Wait!" barked Riku, leading Leafa into charging at the portal, but it disappeared before they got close. They looked disgruntled as they stared at the spot Vanitas and the hooded man disappeared.

The team decided they should head back with Asuna to Sazh's workshop again. Kirito carried Asuna as they wandered through the Industrial Area, then wandering the streets before coming to the workshop. Sazh and Hope were inside, and they were glad to see them, but shocked to see Asuna in her state. They laid her down on a sofa, and allowed her to rest. "Will she be okay?" Sora asked. "She'll be fine." Lightning assured them, "She should wake up soon."

The team turned to each other, while Yui and Kirito stayed by Asuna's side. "So it looks like Sora isn't the only one that attracts trouble." Riku stated, looking to where Kirito and Asuna were at. "My brother and Asuna always find themselves in some sort of mess." Leafa pointed out, "But in the end, they come out all right."

"So how long have you guys been here?" Sora asked Riku and Kairi. "Just now, actually." Kairi explained, "We came down here, and Riku felt a dark presence coming from the area you guys were in, so we rushed over her to see." "Well, we're glad you made it safely." Goofy said happily. "We never even got a chance to enjoy the scenery here before meeting you guys." Leafa sighed, then turning to Lightning and Snow, "Nor have we got a chance to introduce ourselves to the people here."

"I'm Lightning. Call me Light." Lightning introduced herself. "And I'm Snow." Snow followed, then pointing from behind, "Those guys are Sazh and Hope." "Nice to meet you guys." Leafa greeted them, "I'm Suguha, but call me Leafa. This here is Recon, Riku and Kairi." "Leafa, Riku and Kairi are also Keyblade wielders like us!" Sora added. "Seriously?" Lightning asked, surprised. "How many of you guys are there?" exclaimed a puzzled Snow.

Just then, Yui cried, "Asuna's waking up!" The team turned to see Asuna groan as Kirito helped her sit up. "You okay?" Kirito asked consolingly as Sora, Donald and Goofy rushed around her. "I think so." Asuna replied, rubbing her eye. "You had us worried there!" Donald squawked. "But it looks like you're doing fine now." Goofy noticed as Asuna repositioned her feet so she properly sat on the couch.

"I do feel strange, though." Asuna stated as she touched her chest, "It's almost like a burden I carried seems to have been lifted." Kirito wondered if maybe it was the result of that black orb that came out of Asuna before. "What kind of burden are you talking about?" Sora asked. Asuna shook her head. "I don't know." she replied, "But whatever it was, it's gone now."

"It must've been the result of that black orb coming out of you." Riku assumed, "What did he call it…the Key of Doubt?" "That hooded guy also said it was a Key of Darkness." Kirito recalled, "Didn't Maleficent say something about that before? In Pit's World?" Asuna nodded. "But, uh, what are they?" Goofy wondered. "And why are Maleficent and Vanitas gathering them?" Riku added. Everyone pondered on the questions that raced through their heads.

"Before you guys get a headache over all these questions, you might want to look at these." Sazh stated, walking over to Kirito, Asuna and Sora, and holding out three magic orbs. "What are these for?" Kirito asked. "They're the prizes for the Mist Cup." Sazh explained, "Balthier said you guys forgot to collect your prize after the tournament, so he brought it down here, thinking you guys will come here. The trophy is over there." He pointed behind him, and the team turned to see a golden trophy with a weird, misty design on it, along with a small plaque with Kirito, Asuna and Sora's names engraved on it. "That's pretty cool of him!" Sora exclaimed.

Yui walked forward and took the magic orbs from Sazh and examined them. "It looks like they're all different magic orbs." she said, looking to each of them, "Each contains a different spell to use. The magic orbs started to float and go towards Kirito, Asuna and Sora individually.

"Sora, the one before you is the Wind Element." Yui explained, "It contains the Aero spell." She then turned to Asuna. "Mama, yours is the Water Element. It will give you access to the Water spell." Finally, Yui turned to Kirito. "Papa, yours is the Gravity Element. It grants you the power of the Zero Gravity spell." "Each of us gets a unique spell?" Sora asked. "Means more variety between us." Kirito stated with a smirk. The three of them absorbed the magic orbs they were given.

Asuna got to her feet again as Riku, Leafa, Kairi and Recon gathered with their team. "Looks like you guys are ready to go." Leafa stated. "Sorry we can't stay here." Sora apologized, "But we have to go. More Heartless and Unversed are attacking the worlds, and we need to stop them." "Plus, we need to learn more about what these Keys of Darkness are." Kirito added, "Maybe you guys can figure something out here, too."

"Sure." Riku responded, "Plus, it would give us an advantage on why those guys want to have them so badly." "In the meantime, we'll protect this land from any dangers that come this way." Leafa declared. "I'll do whatever I can to help out here as well." Kairi added. "You guys go kick some Heartless and Unversed, alright?!" Recon asked. Sora and Kirito smiled and nodded.

The six heroes were about to start off, but Asuna paused. The team looked to them. "I'm sorry, guys." Asuna apologized, "I knew I shouldn't have gone on my own like that. It was pretty stupid of me." "It sure was." Kirito responded bluntly, "But at least you're safe. That's all that matters. And what's more, you unlocked a whole new source of power, just like how Sora and I did back in the tournament." "Who knows what other kinds of powers we can gain from one another." Sora stated.

Kirito looked to Lightning. "Please take care of my sister for me, would ya?" he asked, "She can be a handful, but she is reliable." "Hey, don't make it sound out like I'm reckless like you!" barked Leafa. "Just doing my brotherly duties." Kirito casually responded. Lightning looked between the two, and couldn't help but think of her with Serah. "I'll try." she responded.

Sora was with Riku and Kairi. "I guess I better be off then." Sora stated. "Be careful out there, Sora." Kairi told her. "Better come back with a sensible head next time." Riku added. "What's that suppose to mean?" Sora asked as Kairi laughed at the gesture.

"Take care, Leafa, Recon." Asuna said to the two. "We'll be seeing you!" said Recon. "Stay out of trouble, Asuna." Leafa ordered her. "With our luck, trouble finds us." Asuna giggled. Leafa and Recon both laughed along with her.

"Let's get moving gang!" Kirito told the team, and he, Sora, Asuna, Donald, Goofy and Yui walked out of the workshop and called for the Gummi Ship. It teleported the team into the ship, and they got to their seats. "Where to next?" Donald asked. "Let's go back to take on that one world we missed." Kirito decided, "Yui, set coordinates to the next world!" "Setting coordinates in now." Yui responded, typing at the computer, and with that, the Gummi Ship took off.

Asuna looked out into space, touch the part of her chest where the Key of Darkness came out of her. _I wonder why I had that black orb inside of me?_ she thought to herself, _Does it have something to do with my relationship to Aqua? I wish I knew the answers. Aqua, if you're out there, I will find out more about you, and I will discover what is my connection with you, one way or another._ She continued to ponder these thoughts as the Gummi ship sped through space.

* * *

**Well, that's another story down. Wasn't that exciting? Let me read off some of the new powers;**

**Cross Burst is a new form of Limit Break shared between Kirito, Asuna and Sora. Their old Limit Breaks are replaced with these. Each pair has their own unique Cross Burst technique, and their trio form will be presented in later times.  
**

**Soul Finale**** is just like what Lightning explained: the Soul Drive Form's Limit Break. It is devastating, but it uses up the Drive Gauge. Each Soul Drive has its' own unique Soul Finale.**

**Sora, Asuna and Kirito will each gain their own kind of special techniques based on Ventus, Aqua and Terra respectively. Asuna's Cartwheel is just the first of many. Plus, each has their own unique element they control: Sora with Aero, Asuna with Water, and Kirito with Zero Gravity. These powers will be ****upgraded as the story goes on. **

**But there are still so many questions you might be asking yourself. But all will be revealed as the story goes on. For now, leave a review, tell your friends, and wait for the next episode.**

* * *

**Next time on SAKII:**

**Yui: Wha-what's going on?!**

**Asuna: That wolf turned into that boy!**

**Kirito: He doesn't seem to talk a lot, but he is powerful.**

**Asuna: And what's with that shadowy girl thing with her?**

**Sora: She calls herself 'Midna'.**

**Kirito: Oh well. We gotta help these guys out with clearing the Heartless!**

**Author: On the next Sword Art Kingdom II: Hyrule! The Shadows of Twilight!**

**Sora, Kirito & Asuna: Let's unlock the path to our bonded hearts!**


	11. Sorry for the Delay

**I apologize for the delay in the story. It's nearing Finals week in college, and I'm a fourth year with a lot on my plate. I'll barely have time doing story writing this next couple weeks. Don't worry, I plan to post the next chapter soon! Rest assured, this story will go on! Just be patient, okay? Thank you.**

**Sora: C'mon, you gotta get to us soon, Jacob!**

**Kirito: I hear you have three math classes to deal with. Good luck, pal.**

**Link: 'battle shout'**

**Kirito: ****_(sweat-drop)_**** No one can understand you, Link.**

**Midna: Then I'll just say it for him. Give it your all, Jacob!**

**Jacob: Thanks, you guys. I'll finish your story soon. Don't worry!**


	12. Hyrule! The Shadows of Twilight!

**Sorry it has been a long time with doing these stories. Finals Week is a killer, and with three math classes for a fourth year college student, it's troublesome. But rest assured, I am making up for it. How? By making a double feature! That's right, two episodes together. Truth be told, I did the next one before this one because I was so excited for it. I hope this will work out for you! Read and enjoy!**

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_(I do not own Kingdom Hearts or Sword Art Online. All I do is form my imagination from both stories, and share it with the world!)_

**Prologue**

Up in the tower of Hyrule Castle, Wolf Link was staring down at the injured Midna on the ground, and the cloaked Zelda was knelt down next to her. Link was cursed by a dark being named Zant, and he had heavily damaged Midna, bringing her close to death.

Link managed to make his way back to Hyrule Castle, where Princess Zelda laid captive within. However, Zelda was unable to remove the curse from Link. Instead, she told him about a sacred sword within a grove that could lift the curse, reverting him to normal.

"Link…" moaned Midna, "You can… You can get to the woods…on your own, right?" Wolf Link looked from Zelda to Midna, wondering. "Princess… I have one last request…" Midna continued, speaking to Zelda now, "Can you tell him…where to find the Mirror of Twilight?"

Zelda gasped at the request, then after looking at Midna for a second, she said, "Midna… I believe I understand now just who and what you are. Despite your mortal injuries, you act in our stead. These dark times are the result of our deeds, yet it is you who have reaped the penalty. Accept this now, Midna. I pass it to you…"

Zelda folded her hands around Midna's hand as she started to glow brightly. The energy she was producing now started to pour itself onto Midna, who floated into the air, surprised at what was happening. She looked to the light surrounding her body, then at Zelda, then she became shocked. "NO! Link! Stop her!" she shouted. Link was too shocked at the display to do anything. Midna's pleas for Zelda to stop became inaudible as she continued to float higher. Zelda watched her ascend, then she removed her hands from Midna's just as her body vanished in a sparkling of lights, leaving her cloak behind, which fell to the floor.

Midna came back down again, fully recovered. She landed on her feet in front of Link, and both of them looked at the spot where Zelda was at before. After a few seconds, Midna started. "We go back, Link! Back to Faron Woods!" she ordered. She flipped herself onto Link's back again.

They were about to head out when something outside the rainy window caught there attention. They turned to see a bright orange mist appear off in the distance. "What's this?!" gasped Midna, surprised, "Why is twilight descending onto Hyrule again? This shouldn't be possible!" Link stared at it, wondering the same thing.

_(Cue Opening song)_

* * *

**Chapter 1: Twilight Wolf**

The team made it back to the crossroads once more, and took the direction they hadn't gone through before. The space gate wasn't as crazy as the one from before, and with their Highwind, it was very easy. The team made it out and towards the next world. When they arrived, they found a world that looked like a medieval-styled world, but a part of the world was covered in an eerie sort of dark-yellow atmosphere. Most of this was centered around a large castle, which seemed to be stuck in a pyramid-shaped barrier.

"What the heck is with this world?" Kirito asked, "And what's with that fog?" "The land in which we are traveling to is called Hyrule." Yui replied, looking up at a monitor, "And unfortunately, it is in great danger. Parts of the land are covered in an area of 'twilight'."

"Twilight?" Sora repeated. "Is it dangerous?" Asuna asked nervously. "According to this, it turns normal people into spirits." Yui explained, "And what's worse, there are monsters down there that can easily turn the spirits into one of their own." "I bet the Heartless find the people's spirits easy prey as well." Kirito said in a serious tone, standing up onto his feet, "Let's go down there."

"But what if the twilight turns us into spirits, too?" Donald asked hastily, "How'll we fight then?" "Oh, I'm sure things'll work out." Goofy assured him. "And besides, Yui said it affects NORMAL people." Sora reminded him. "Let's hope we are not normal here." Kirito stated amusingly. Sora and Goofy chuckled at his joke. Asuna just looked absentmindedly down at the world. _A world full of spirits and monsters._ she thought to herself, _Can any world be normal for once?_ She and Donald climbed onto the transporter with the other boys as Yui tapped in the coordinates, and they went down to the surface.

When they arrived, they found themselves in the plains, within the twilight. The team looked around. The name said it all, since it looked like the time of day, except for the white sky above them, and the black specs that were all around them. The place did not look natural. Off in the distance, they could see a large castle, but it was surrounded by a diamond-shaped prism barrier, one made of a different type of twilight.

Both Asuna and Donald rubbed their arms, shuddering. "This place is really creepy." Asuna mumbled. "Not as scary as Halloween Town, right?" Kirito asked her. Asuna flinched when she remembered that world in Sora's dimension. "Y-Yeah." she stammered, "That place was definitely scarier." Kirito rolled his eyes. She still was frightened of that place.

"Still, this place is very…weird." Sora pointed out, looking around. "And we didn't turn into spirits!" Goofy added, looking at his hands. He was right. All six of them remained themselves even in the twilight. "I wonder why we haven't changed?" Kirito asked, looking at his hands. "It's because we aren't from this world." Yui answered, "Remember back when Jack Sparrow turned into a skeleton because of the treasure's curse? We weren't affected by that for the same reason." "Yeah, that does make sense." Sora understood, slamming his fist into his palm.

After a few seconds, Kirito started. "So…where to?" he asked the team. Everyone looked to Sora, who looked to each of them. "I guess we should start by figuring out what's causing this twilight." Sora suggested, "If the Heartless are enjoying this scenery, then that means this 'twilight' is influenced by the darkness. We have to stop it!" The others nodded in agreement.

All of a sudden, the stone pillars surrounded them, with red pattens engraved on them. The red patterns then formed a barrier, surrounding the group. "What in the…!" gasped Yui, but before she could finish, Heartless started to appear. They were Armored Knights, and they weren't alone.

A black and red portal opened up above them, and down came two more black creatures, ones that looked dark and dangerous as a Heartless. Most of its' body looked human-like, but it was on its' hands and legs, it had a shield-like mask that covered its' face, and tentacles growing from the top and bottom of the beasts' face. There were also red markings on their chest similar to the ones on the surrounding stones.

"Wha-what are those things?!" gasped Asuna, panicking with Donald and Goofy at the sight of it. "Yui!" shouted Kirito. "My scanner isn't telling me!" Yui replied, looking at the activated eyepiece which had the words 'unknown' on it, "My guess is that it's native to this land." "This thing is normal in this place?" a confused Sora asked, whipping out his Keyblade, "Well, whatever! We gotta take it down along with the Heartless in order to remove this barrier!" The others pulled out their weapons, readying themselves against the Heartless and creatures.

The team started taking out the monsters within the enclosed area. While the Heartless weren't much of a problem, they still kept reproducing. What were the troublesome ones were the new creatures. Frontal attacks didn't do much what with their shield masks, and they were quite strong with their attacks. The team had no choice but to attack them from the back when given the chance. Once the two creatures were knocked down, the Heartless stopped reproducing, and the team defeated the rest.

Once all taken out, the creatures suddenly disappeared into several black specs, only to form themselves up above where the portal was once at. the red parts of the portal turned green, and the barrier was lifted from around them. "What was that all about?" Kirito asked as the team looked up at the portal. "I don't know. But whatever those things were, they're probably the source of the twilight." Asuna assumed.

"Well, well. What do we have here?" said a sly girl's voice. The team turned to see someone, or something, riding a wolf towards them. The wolf's fur was a mixture of light and dark grey, with weird markings on its' forehead. Its' eyes were blue. He also had blue earrings and a cuff with broken chain on its' front left leg.

The thing riding the wolf looked sort of like an imp, but it had some sort of feminine features on it as well. It was black and white, with green markings on its' arms, legs and ears. It had on a grey, horned, crown-like mask on it, which had a part that covered her left eye. It also had long yellow hair that fell behind her, and it glowed a bit.

The wolf stopped in front of the wary group, and both it and the imp looked at them. "This is peculiar." the imp said, looking at them, "You are all within the twilight, and yet you don't seem to be affected by it." "Who are you?" Kirito asked, finding the new figure suspicious. "I'm the one who should be asking YOU that." the imp replied, "Who are you three, and where do you come from?" _Where do we come from…why is that such a common question?!_ Thought an irritable Kirito.

"I'm Sora." Sora stepped in, "This is Kirito, Asuna, Donald, Goofy, and Yui. We just came here when this happened. Don't know why it doesn't affect us, though." "Hmm… How odd." the imp muttered.

There was a few seconds pause, then Sora asked, "Aren't you gonna tell us who you are?" "Oh, how thoughtless of me." the imp replied, "I'm Midna. The wolf-boy here is named Link." "Wolf-boy?" Asuna repeated, eyeing the wolf, who was eyeing right back. Looking into its' eyes, Asuna could tell that this wolf was not normal.

"That's right." Midna replied, hopping off Link's back, "This wolf was once a young Hylian, but was cursed by Zant, who 'rules' the twilight. But that beast has no right to call himself a king…" Midna looked down a bit, and her fists curled in anger. Kirito and Sora looked to each other, puzzled.

Midna shook her head of these things, and looked back at the group. "But that's beside the point right now." she continued, "Link and I were just about to set out for the Sacred Grove when we found the land in this unnatural twilight." "Unnatural in what way?" Kirito asked. "I mean that it shouldn't even be here." Midna replied, "This land is suppose to be void of all twilight since we restored the Spirits of Light once more. But this… It is rather unusual."

"Is there anything we can do about it?" Sora asked. "I'm not sure, though your presence here and the fact you aren't affected by it does bring up a lot of questions." Midna replied, "So until these questions are answered, you will accompany us to the Sacred Grove."

"And what would happen if we refuse?" Kirito asked suspiciously. "Kirito, we aren't here to start up a fight." Asuna snapped at him, "Besides, they could help us out here." Kirito thought for a second, then looked to Yui. "What do you think, Yui?" he asked. "Midna does look suspicious, but she doesn't look like she'll harm us."

Everyone was eyeing Kirito, who looked to everyone in a nervous manner before sighing, "Okay, fine. We'll help them out." Sora grinned eagerly. "Since all of you are in agreement, we shall be heading off." Midna stated, getting onto Link again, "Follow us if you can." With that, the wolf dashed passed the group, with the team chasing after him and Midna.

They ran on for a while, making their towards a path, and made it into a crevice surrounded by rock walls. Countless Heartless kept impeding in their path, but the team dealt with everyone that came. They noticed how well Wolf Link, who they called, was good in combat. Using his agility, along with combat skills with his fangs and tail, which he used almost sword-like, against the Heartless. In return, Midna was impressed by the powers and magic that the team possessed, particularly the Keyblades.

They made it to the edge of the twilight, which was in the middle of the crevice. A barrier was in their path, preventing them access to the outside. "Now what?" Donald asked. "We need to just get through it, right?" Sora asked, walking up to it. "I can get Link through, though I don't know about you guys." Midna stated as she eyed the portal, "Too bad. Looks like I will have to leave you behind." "What?!" gasped Donald and Sora. _She didn't even think of a way around it._ Kirito thought irritably.

Yui walked up to the barrier and examined it for a second. "What is it, Yui?" Kirito asked. "I think…the Keyblade could open it." she replied, turning to them, "It might be in a different form, but this is still a doorway between the twilight and the world outside…" "Great!" cheered Sora. "But it's a one way trip." Yui continued, "And I don't think the barrier will stay unlocked for long, even if you use the Keyblade." "If it means getting us out of here, I'm not complaining." Asuna replied.

"You can unlock the barrier?" Midna asked in a puzzled tone, "Just how are you able to do that? Only the Twili can do such things." "Watch…" Asuna replied, stepping forward and pulling out her Suite Harmony Keyblade. She pointed it at the barrier and concentrated. The Keyblade lit up, and fired a beam at the barrier. The moment it made contact, a large white keyhole opened up in front of them.

"Such power…" Midna gasped. "It will only last for a few seconds!" Yui told the group, "Everybody, get through!" The team did so, leaping one after another into the keyhole, which already started to shrink on them. Donald was the last to make it through, and almost got his tail stuck in the keyhole, but he pulled it out, leaving a few white feathers behind.

Outside the twilight, the team watched as Donald jumped out, landing face-first into the ground. "Good. Everyone's here." Sora stated, looking at the crowd. "That weapon of yours is very unusual." Midna stated, swooping over to Asuna and grabbing her Keyblade. "Hey!" Asuna barked as Midna floated above her, examining the weapon.

She held it aloft, then took it by the handle and examined it up and down for a few seconds. "I wonder if this would work for Link?" she thought out loud, "It would come in handy for us." "Yeah, if he was its' chosen wielder." Asuna retorted, making the Keyblade come back to her hand, which surprised Midna, "This weapon can only be wielded by me, Kirito, or Sora. It's not yours for the taking."

"Gee, that's a shame." Midna huffed, "I was hoping to use it to break all those locks we find in the dungeons we go to." "Huh?" Sora questioned. "Never mind." Midna replied, getting back onto Wolf Link again, "We're wasting time here. Let's go to the Sacred Grove. It's through the Faron Woods." And with that, the team continued.

The sky said that it was evening, with the stars twinkling in the night sky and a few clouds showing themselves here and there. Behind them, the area of twilight glowed like a giant lantern in the night sky. The Heartless, however, weren't stopping their attacks, though. They kept coming at the crew, and the crew kept retaliating stronger. They were really abundant when the team crossed a large stone bridge.

"What's causing these monsters to go so rampant?" Midna asked after the tenth wave they crossed on the bridge. "The Heartless try to take people's hearts." Sora explained, "Not only that, they fear the Keyblade, and want to destroy it."

"Even so, this is a serious amount of Heartless than usual." Asuna pointed out, "Either Pete and Maleficent decided to take things seriously, or…" Asuna looked to the twilight, way off in the distance. Everyone else followed her gaze, and realized the alternative. "…Or the Heartless are involved with the twilight in some way." Kirito voiced everyone's thoughts.

* * *

**Chapter 2: To the Sacred Grove**

Sora looked to Midna. "Say, you said something about 'Spirits of Light' that you restored before. Who are they?" he asked. "They are the four spirits who protect the light of this land." Midna explained, "They were once weakened by the monsters of twilight, which in turn turned the places they protected into twilight realms. We restored their power one after another, while searching for the Fused Shadows."

"Fused Shadows?" Kirito asked. "Dark artifacts that I was gonna use against the 'ruler' of Twilight, Zant." Midna explained, "But just as we gained them all, that fiend took them away from us, and stuck Link here into a wolf form. In order for him to turn back to normal, we need to go to the Sacred Grove."

"I get it." Sora understood, "So we just need to go to Sacred Grove to turn him back, right? That doesn't seem too hard." "We shall see." Midna replied, turning Link back to their next destination, "For now, we need to go to Faron Woods first. From there, we can make it to the Sacred Grove." And with that, the team continued on their way.

By the time they got to the edge of the woods, it was daybreak. The timetable in this world was much shorter than one they were use to. Either that, or time flies by when you're having fun taking down Heartless. At least, in Kirito and Sora's case. The team finally got the Faron Woods in their sights, and they went in.

When they entered the woods, they crossed a small wooden bridge towards a shack that had a man with big, brown hair sitting out in front. "Excuse me." Asuna called as the team drew in closer. The man turned to the group. "Oh, hello there!" greeted the man, "It's rare to get so many visitors here. Especially ones with wolves."

The team looked to Wolf Link and Midna, but somehow, Midna had vanished. "Where…?" Kirito started. "Huh?" Donald squawked. "Is something wrong?" the man asked. "N-No. Not really." Asuna stammered, "In any case, have you seen a place called the 'Sacred Grove'?" The man scratched his head for a second. "Hmm…no, haven't seen it." The team bowed their heads depressingly.

"Although…" the man continued, getting the team's attention again, "I did see someone walk along through the caves that way." He pointed towards an enclosed path in front of them. "I was curious. He didn't look like a native." the man stated. The team looked curiously at one another. Could it be one of their enemies?

"Thanks for the assistance." Kirito thanked the man, and the team ran towards the path that the man pointed to. Once out of sight, Sora called out for Midna. "Where'd she disappear to?" Asuna asked, looking around.

"I'm right here." giggled Midna's voice. Kirito looked down at his shadow, and to his shock, Midna appeared in a black form before returning to her normal self. Everyone but Link looked shocked. "How did you do that?!" exclaimed Kirito. "I can meld into the shadows." Midna explained, passing a hand through her unusual hair, "It's just one of the many gifts I have." "That's both creepy and amazing." Asuna stated. "It's almost like you're one of the Heartless." Sora compared. Kirito thought the same thing. Was this imp really to be trusted?

"C'mon! We gotta go through this cave!" Goofy told the group, pointing to a cave that led further into the forest. The team walked into it, and saw how dark it was. Heck, they couldn't even see each other.

"Argh! I can't see anything!" Sora stated. "Ouch! watch it!" Yui squeaked. "Sorry!" Goofy replied. "There's gotta be a way to shine some light here." Kirito stated, "If only I could use Night Vision magic right now. It would come in handy." "Hold on. Let me try something!" Asuna stated.

Moments later, the gem on her Suite Harmony Keyblade started to glow, brightening up the place. "Awesome!" cheered Sora. "I didn't know it could do that." Kirito said in amazement. "Must be because of the Keyblade's design." Asuna figured.

"Hey, hold on!" Sora exclaimed, pulling out his Shining Wing Keyblade and focusing. Immediately, the two gold rings on the teeth of the Keyblade started to glow as well, making the cave brighter. "Cool!" cheered Goofy. Kirito pulled out his Elucidator Keyblade and concentrated. The Keyblade didn't glow. "Guess mine can't glow like yours." Kirito sighed. "Don't worry. You'll find one eventually." Sora assured him as he and Asuna walked ahead of the group, their Keyblades aloft.

The tunnel was also filled with Heartless as well, and since the passageways were so narrow, the team had some difficult time fighting. The Heartless were using a lot of the darkness to their advantage, though their yellow eyes did give them away at times. The crew powered their way through and made it to the other side of the cave.

Outside the cave, they found themselves in a misty part of the forest, and the team saw a dense purple fog on the ground near them. "If I know poison gas clouds, they usually come in purple color, right?" Kirito asked, staring at the fog. "What do we do about this?" Asuna asked.

"I have an idea!" Sora exclaimed, walking forward, "I'll use my new magic to get us through this. _Aero!_" A ball of wind shot forward, hitting the fog and making it disperse. "Great! Make a path for us to cross." Kirito told Sora, who nodded in agreement. He led the team forward, using Aero constantly as the team crossed through the blanket of poison fog. After a while, they made it towards a pair of wooden gates further into the forest.

Going through them, they saw that the sunlight from above was peaking down upon them. They ran through the forest towards an open part, that had a narrow path that led up to a great tree, who's roots grew far down below. There was a wide, deep gap between the path and a rock wall, with narrow ledge pieces going along in between.

The team went near the edge of the path and looked down. "It's hard to see the bottom." Kirito stated. "Look!" Donald squawked, pointing towards the far side of the gap. There, standing on a ledge that led further into the forest, was Pete. He was just walking from the ledge into the forest.

"So Pete was behind all the Heartless!" growled Sora. "Wonder where he's going?" Goofy asked. "My guess is that leads to the Sacred Grove." Midna replied, looking beyond, "We have to get over there. Follow me!" She led Wolf Link over to the edge of the cliff. Then leap by leap, she guided Link in going from one ledge to another, until reaching the final ledge. "Wow!" gasped the boys.

"But how're we to cross?" Asuna asked, looking at all the ledges, "There's no way we can cross like them." The team pondered as Midna came over to them. Goofy looked to one side, then said, "Hey, look!" The team looked over to see six chickens coming down the pass, coming near them.

"Are those chickens?" Sora asked. "They're cuccos." Midna replied, "Annoying little poultries… Although, they can be used to cross the gap." "Eh?!" Donald and Kirito gasped, "What do you mean by that?!" "By holding them over your head, you can float from ledge to ledge." Midna explained, "And look at that; there are six of them. I think you should use them."

"I never knew chickens could fly." Yui stated skeptically. "Never mind that. Lets just do it." declared Sora, and he went to grab one of the cuccos. He brought it with him over to the ledge, and everyone watched as he used the bird to float across the gaps, all the way to where Wolf Link was at.

After seeing Sora, the rest of the group did the same. Yui and Asuna went first, followed by Donald and Goofy. It was fortunate that the cuccos were capable of flying them over. They just had to hold on as they carried them.

As soon and Donald and Goofy joined the group, they heard a crow of a rooster, followed by Kirito yelping from a distance. The team turned to see Kirito getting attacked by a bunch of cuccos that came out of nowhere, and Midna standing there, sighing as she witnessed Kirito's moment. The team gasped as they saw Midna's hair contort into a large hand, then grabbed Kirito and carried him over to the rest of the group. She dropped him, and the team saw his face scratched in some places, having been pecked endlessly.

"What happened over there?" Asuna asked as Kirito moaned in pain. "All I did was accidentally bent one of that cucco's legs wrong." he gasped, "It crowed like a rooster, and suddenly, all these other birds came out of nowhere, and started to kill me." Asuna chuckled nervously as she turned to the cuccos they used to cross. "Guess we shouldn't mess with these birds." she stated.

"Enough talk!" Midna barked at them, hopping back onto Link again, "Let's go. We gotta go through the forest to find what we need to help Link." "Which is…?" Sora asked as Asuna healed Kirito of his wounds. "A blade that evil cannot touch." Midna explained, "At least, that's what Zelda said would reverse Link's stasis."

"Who's Zelda?" Yui asked. "She's the princess of Hyrule." Midna explained, "That is, until Zant took it over. Then just recently, I was heavily injured by Zant, and Zelda healed me." Midna looked down mournfully as she continued, "However, she sacrificed her soul to do so, transferring it to me so that I may live." "She did all that to save you?" Sora asked surprised. Midna nodded. Asuna and Kirito looked to one another. This princess did all this to help Midna. Maybe they were misjudging the imp, thinking she was evil.

"But this is not the time to talk. We have to get wolf-boy here back to normal." Midna continued. "Right. Let's head into the Sacred Grove!" declared Sora, and they rushed in together. They had to cross some rotating bridges that turned by the wind, to which Sora happily assisted with, walk along a tight-rope, and finally further into a short cave.

When they came out, they found themselves in what they guessed as the Sacred Grove. The trees' trunks were tall, and their branches were wide. Sunlight peaked out from around the branches, shedding its' light down to the ground around them. The air itself seemed to show off a sort of mystical wave of energy. They were only at the entrance, but the place had an aura to it that was totally unusual.

"This looks like the place." Kirito stated as the group looked around. "But where's Pete?" Goofy asked. The team examined the area around them. Pete was nowhere to be seen. "Let's go further in." Sora told the group, "He's bound to be around here somewhere. Let's go look for him, along with the blade that can reverse Link's form." The others nodded in agreement.

"Hey, what's that?" Goofy asked pointing over to something. He was pointing to an old stone slab, and it had a triangle picture on it, with a smaller upside-down triangle hole in the middle of the triangle, making three connected triangles around the hole. The team walked over to it, and started hearing wind go right through the hole. But for some strange reason, there was no wind around them, and they heard a sort of whistle through the hole, making a tune of some kind.

"What's that mark on this stone? And why is it whistling?" Kirito asked, examining it. "This is a howl stone." Midna explained, "It carries out a tune to which Wolf Link her can howl as well." She patted the head of the wolf. "Alright, Link. Try to memorize this tune." Link stepped right next to the stone, closed his eyes, and listened. After listening to the tune once, Link started to howl the tune as well. He was good as repeating the tune, which almost sounded like a lullaby.

"Now don't forget that tune, Link." Midna told the wolf. "So what's with this triangle?" Kirito repeated, pointing at the symbol on the stone, "Does it mean anything?" "Have you people been living under a Goron? That's the Golden Power of the Sacred Realm!" Midna answered, surprised they didn't know, "It the power from the heavens bestowed upon this land. Some call it something called the 'Triforce'. It is said that three individuals were blessed with the power of the Goddesses. As a matter of face, Link is one of these people."

Everyone stared at Link, shocked. Then Kirito noticed something. On his front-right paw, Kirito could make out a faint glimpse of the same symbol as the one on the rock.

"And that's not all." Midna continued, "Zelda has the other symbol." "Zelda does?" Asuna asked, "But you said she sacrificed herself. What happened to it then?" "She gave her soul to me, but her body is still there. There might be a way to return her soul once this is all done." "Let's hope so." Kirito agreed.

* * *

**Chapter 3: Puzzles, Pete & Sacred Powers**

The team continued on into the grove. It was pretty confusing. It felt somewhat like a maze with all the different combs of the grove they went through. Some parts had small rivers and waterfalls, while others had trees that stuck out well enough for the group to cross them to another level. And as they went further in, they started to see old stone walls of a temple here and there.

It was a beautiful place, but they didn't really have time to stand around and gaze. The Heartless kept coming up upon them like a bad rash. However, their locations on where they attacked did give the team a trail to follow around the forest. Yui guessed that Pete must've been leaving the Heartless behind as he went further in, probably to make sure no intruders get in his path. However, that wasn't the case.

Pete made his way through a stone archway, into the center of the ruined temple, panting slightly. "Dat dumb little squirt with the lantern and horn ticked me off!" he growled, "He caused so much delay in my plan. I had to send a bunch of my Heartless after his puppets in order to keep goin'." He started to look around. "Well, since he's outta here, I might as well go lookin' for that sword. Zant said it would cause BIG trouble if I didn't find it."

Pete continued to look around, but was unable to find the sword. He started to walk about, searching high and low for the sword. "There's nothin' here." Pete said, standing on a higher level, "Now where could that sword be? Zant promised the Key of Folly over to me. Now where is it?!" He started to rub his chin, wondering. If he was hoping to get one up on Vanitas, since he was doing so good. Maleficent was constantly praising Vanitas' work, and not Pete's. It's about time he got a Key of Darkness for Maleficent, too.

Just then, he started to hear a voice. Sora's voice. "Over here, guys!" he shouted. Pete was surprised when he heard them, and dove behind a broken column to shield himself from the brat's view.

Down on the ground, Sora, Kirito, Asuna and the group all got to the center of the ruined temple and looked around. It was old. The stones covered in moss here and there. On one side, there were flights of stairs that led to higher parts of the temple and grove. On the other side, there were two stone statues that guarded the stone door behind them that looked too heavy to move, and displayed a picture of a bird-like creature holding up the Triforce.

"Where's the blade?" Yui asked, examining the place. "It looks like we've hit a dead end." Goofy pointed out. "If the blade is not here, then it has to be further inside the grove." Midna assumed, "The question is; where can we go next?"

"Guys, look!" Donald squawked, pointing to the ground near them. There was a stone circle in the middle of the surrounding walls, and in it was a square with the same triangular symbol they saw before. It was facing the doorway and statues. "Is that the Triforce symbol?" Sora asked as the team circled around it. "Yeah, but what's it doing here?" Kirito asked, looking down at it.

Wolf Link stepped forward, into the golden symbol, facing the doorway with a serious expression. "What are you doing?" Kirito asked. The wolf paused, then he opened his mouth and started to howl the same lullaby-like song they heard on the howl stone before. The others listened to him as he howled, wondering if the tune was suppose to do anything.

It did. All of a sudden, everything around them went black for a second, all but them and the two statues before them were present. Then the symbol flashed for an instant, followed by all but Link and Midna to be shunted to the sides. Several lighted squares started to appear from all around, forming a heart-like pattern, with two squares going underneath the two stone statues feet.

The darkness vanished, and the team was shocked to see that the grounds turned into several platforms, with a bottomless pit down below. Sora, Donald and Goofy were on one far side of the pit while Kirito, Asuna and Yui were on the other side. "What just happened?" Sora gasped, looking at the place. "Look!" Goofy shouted, pointing to the two statues, and for good reasons.

The statues started to move. Blue lights went along their body, and they flashed as they raised their staffs from the ground. They jumped into the air, and landed on the squares directly one away in front and behind Wolf Link. "Watch out, Link! Midna!" shouted Sora. _We are the guardians of this land…_ spoke the statue in front, _Guide us to where we once stood. Only then can you enter the true Sacred Grove._

Link and Midna looked to each statue, wondering. "What does it mean?" Kirito asked. "Look! The panels on which the statues stood before look different from the others." Yui pointed out, "I think if you can somehow guide the statues to their rightful place, they'll let us proceed. Link! Move the statues somehow!"

Link understood, and leapt to the platform on his left. Immediately, the statue behind him turned left, but was unable to move without a platform to jump to. The statue in front turned to the left, and hopped onto the platform next to it, which was one of the places where the statues were suppose to go. Everyone was surprised at this. "How did that happen?" Kirito gasped.

Link looked at the statues at first, then jumped to a front platform. The statue behind jumped one stepped forward, while the statue in fron went one step back, off the platform it should be on. "I get it." Asuna realized, "It's a puzzle. Every direction Link goes towards, the back statue follows the same pattern while the front one does the reverse."

"So all he has to do is move correctly in order to bring all the statues back to their rightful place." Yui summarized, "That shouldn't be too hard. If I can read the patterns, maybe I can help Link out." "No, I think Link can do it." Kirito stopped her, drawing the attention of the girls. "Why's that, papa?" Yui asked.

Kirito was watching Sora, Donald and Goofy. They were cheering for Link as he proceeded with moving around the platforms like it was a game board. "I believe Link has what it takes to do it." Kirito stated, "I don't know how I know he can do it, but I know he can." The two girls wondered why he believed that Link could do it, but decided to just cheer him on.

On and on, Link kept moving, with Midna giving some advice on his back. Link constantly examined the board before making a move, making sure he was doing it right. The others could tell that Link is a good puzzle solver. He was able to see the pattern in the statues, see the placement of the platforms, and was now starting to figure out how to get the statues back to their rightful place. Pete watched from a distance, waiting carefully.

After about ten minutes, Wolf Link finally placed the statues in their places again. The statues turned to Link once more, and hammered the ground with their staffs. The stone door behind them rose up, featuring a tunnel and stairs that led further in. _Go now to the sacred place, beast…_ spoke one of the statues, _We yield passage to the Sacred Grove. _And with that, the lights from the statues died, making them lifeless once more.

The team was so fixated on the statues, that they didn't realize that the grounds returned to normal as well. The team realized it seconds later, surprised, but not saying anything on it. The team gathered around Wolf Link and Midna, facing the door. "After you, Link." Kirito told the wolf, and the group followed Link through the door, with Pete sneaking behind, grinning slyly.

The team walked through the open tunnel, walked up the stairs, and found themselves in an open part of the grove. The ground had a slight fog to it. There were nothing but trees around, with the sunlight shining down all around, specifically into the center of the grove, where a large plinth was at.

On the plinth was a sword, stuck into the ground. Despite the fact that no one was able to come here, the blade looked perfectly fine, without a single trace of rust. It was a double-edged longsword, with a purple, wing-like ricasso hilt and yellow gemstone. Engraved on the top of the metal blade was the same three triangle symbol.

"Is this the blade?" Kirito asked as the team stepped forward towards it. "This is it." Midna answered, examining the sword, "The blade of evil's bane. The one to which no one with evil hearts can touch. The Master Sword." Kirito, Sora and Asuna could clearly feel the sword's power emanating.

Link was about to step forward when a dark barrier suddenly lit up, blocking the others from getting to it. Link leapt back as the team looked around, surprised. They heard someone laughing, and turned to see Pete standing there, chortling. "Pete!" Donald and Goofy barked in unison. "So this is the sword dat Zant character was talkin' about." Pete stated, surprising Midna and making her sneer, "And since I's found it, I might as well smash it into smithereens!"

The team whipped out their weapons and got into battle positions. "That's what you think!" barked Kirito. Link was growling. Pete snapped his fingers, and a bunch of Heartless started to surround him, and raised his fists. It looks like he was ready to fight them. The team examined what they were dealing with before charging at the Heartless and Pete.

The Heartless were composed of Wizards, Soldiers, Lance Soldiers and Armored Knights. Both parties charged at one another, and the battle ensued. Kirito, Sora and Asuna carved a path through the Heartless to Pete, and the team scattered as they took on the Heartless.

While everyone else took on the Heartless, Pete ended up going against Kirito and Link, who impeded his path between him and the Master Sword. Pete attempted to send some of his Heartless at the trio, but Midna used her dark magic to paralyze the Heartless, then Link pounced on each of them, defeating them.

"Get outta my way!" barked Pete, throwing a tantrum and racing at them. Kirito caught his attack and shoved him back. Pete spun around, throwing a bowling ball that exploded at Kirito's feet. "Crap! I forgot about that thing!" Kirito growled, flipping himself in midair, landing on his feet. Link pounced onto Pete, gnawing on him. Pete pounded his fist onto Link's head and tossed him off of him. Link skidded to a halt next to Kirito. The two glared at Pete, who was rolling his shoulder to loosen it up, and the two charged once more.

Pete's attacks were the same as before; punching randomly in front of him, exploding bowling balls, tantrum shockwaves, and his magic shield. However, he had added one more trick to his arsenal; smokescreen bombs, which blinded Kirito, Link and Midna, and Pete would charge right through the smoke, his fists out in front of him. Otherwise, he was the same as before.

Kirito, Link and Midna continuously knocked him around, damaging him continuously. While at the same time, the other team members kept dealing with more and more Heartless, and no matter how many fell, more came up in their place. Yui guessed that they wouldn't disappear unless they defeat Pete. Sora and Asuna went into their Limit Forms, and started pounding at them even further.

After several minutes with Pete, Kirito, Link and Midna were finally wearing Pete down. Pete was breathing heavily, but still full of vigor. "I won't be goin' down that easily!" he panted, "I've still got one more trick up my sleeve." He raised his fist, and slammed it into the ground. Immediately, more of those stones with the red markings surrounded the four of them, keeping Sora, Asuna and the others away from them.

A red portal opened up above them, and Kirito, Link and Midna watched as three more of the strange black creatures with the shields on their heads fell down from the portal in front of the group.

"Not more of these things!" moaned Kirito as the creatures lined up together, protecting Pete. "Shadow Beasts." growled Midna, "These things were once twili, my tribe. But thanks to Zant, they have become corrupted. We have to destroy them in order to give them peace." "Got it." Kirito responded, and Pete ordered the Shadow Beasts to attack them.

While Wolf Link and Midna attacked one of them, Kirito started to take on the other two by himself. Link was far more use to the beasts than Kirito was, and easily took the one he had out. Kirito kept knocking each one back until he finally took one down. Kirito smirked, but Midna shouted, "You idiot!" "What?" Kirito asked. The third Shadow Beast howled, and the other two they took down came back to life. "What the hell?!" Kirito gasped. "You have to knock out the last two at the same time, otherwise one of them will revive the other two!" Midna explained. "You could've told me that!" Kirito shouted back as the Shadow Beasts made a lunge for him.

Kirito backed off, now realizing his mistake, but was immediately hit by a bowling ball bomb from Pete. "Hah! Take that, little pipsqueak!" laughed Pete. "That bastard…" Kirito growled as he got to his feet, but immediately had to dodge another swipe from the Shadow Beasts. "We'll take care of the two!" Midna shouted as she and Link raced passed him to the two Shadow Beasts, "Take care of the one quickly!" "Right!" Kirito responded, and they switched targets.

Kirito charged at the Shadow Beast, dodging another bomb from Pete, and slamming his Keyblade onto the Shadow Beast's shield. He propelled himself into the air, and drilled down straight on top of the beast, knocking it out. "Okay! I got it!" shouted Kirito to Midna and Link. They understood, and Midna used her dark magic to paralyze the two Shadow Beasts, therefore giving Link a chance to take both of them down together.

The Shadow Beasts disappeared into black specs, then flew up to the portal, which turned green on them. The red-marked stones around them vanished. Kirito looked from the portal to Pete, who was dumbstruck at what just happened. Kirito took this chance, and charged at Pete, hitting him with a flurry of attacks, ending with one final slash.

Pete fell to the ground as Sora and Asuna's crew mopped up the last of the Heartless. Pete sat up, shaking his head, then glaring at Kirito, Link and Midna. "You ain't won yet you guys!" he boomed, and he sent a couple more smokescreens, blinding the trio. He raced passed them, lifted the barrier, and got onto the plinth where the Master Sword was at. "I'll just be taking this." he declared as the team gathered around. "No, don't!" shouted Midna, raising a hand.

Pete grabbed the sword, but a blinding light came from the blade and jemstone, blinding everyone. Pete was somehow knocked away by a force from the sword, bouncing along the ground until he hit a tree. Midna was flown off Link's back as he braced himself. The others skidded back away from Link.

Midna sat up as everyone watched Link holding his ground, edging closer to the Master Sword. He stopped close to it, and let out a growl as his body turned black for a few seconds, then the blackness shed itself off Link, morphing into a black and orange stone in front of Midna, who held it floating in her hand. The team looked to it, then at Link who was surprised to see him changed.

He was no longer a wolf, but a human. Or at least a human with pointy ears. He looked about as young as Kirito. He had short blonde hair, which was covered by a floppy green hat, and blue eyes, and a medium build. His garments were a green tunic over chain mail shirt and a white, long-sleeved shirt, white pants under his tunic, and brown leather gauntlets and boots. He also had on a brown belt with a gold buckle, and another one across his chest, used to hold his blue and yellow scabbard on his back. He also had a shield on his back as well, which was blue and silver, and had a red bird picture like the one on the door, along with a golden Triforce above it.

Everyone watched as he grasped the hilt of the sword. The blade stuck in the ground glowed slightly, and Link pulled the sword out of the plinth and raised it up high triumphantly. The fog along the ground stirred as the energy pushed it away, and the sunlight above shined even brighter. The six heroes were awed and amazed. Pete growled slightly, and stood up.

"So this is Link's true look." Kirito stated. "It's so cool!" Sora gasped. "He's not that much older than us." Asuna pointed out. Link swiped his sword around to feel the new strength, and placed it into the scabbard behind him.

He turned to the group, who walked towards him. "Glad to see the real you, Link." Sora stated. Link smiled and nodded in agreement. "Link's not much of a talker." Midna told the group. "Gotcha." Kirito understood.

"But what's that stone in your hand?" Yui asked as Donald raised a finger to it. "Don't touch it!" barked Midna, keeping it away from Donald, "This thing is the embodiment of the evil magic that Zant casted upon Link. It's definitely different from our tribe's shadow magic. I don't know what would happen to you people if you touch the stone, but if Link touches it, it'll turn him back into a beast." "That sounds dangerous." Yui responded.

"So just throw it away." Sora suggested, "Since you got it out of Link, then you don't need it, right?" "That's true…" Midna answered, "On the other hand…if we kept it, Link would be able to transform into a beast anytime he wanted. Yes, since Zant was kind enough to give it to us, we should use it all we can. I'll just hold onto it when you need to transform."

"Wait, where's Pete?" Asuna asked, looking around. The team looked to the spot that Pete was at before, but he wasn't there. "Must've escaped when our backs were turned." Kirito assumed, "I'm sure we'll see him again." "But what about the twilight?" Kirito asked, "We need to go back there in order to figure out what's causing it." The others nodded in agreement.

"Leave that to me." Midna answered, drawing their attention, "Since you opened up a portal for us within the twilight, I can teleport all of us back into it." "Really?" Asuna asked surprised. "It's easy." Midna answered in a not so humble tone, "Just stay close to me, and I'll bring all of us there. Hold on." The team gathered in close as Midna concentrated. Then she raised her hands, and the group's bodies turned into black specs as they were teleported away from the Sacred Grove.

* * *

**Chapter 4: Cause of Twilight**

The team found themselves inside the twilight once more. The team looked around. "The area that the twilight covered seems to have expanded." Yui pointed out. "At this rate, all of Hyrule will be covered in twilight!" Sora realized, "We gotta find a way to shut it down for good." The others nodded in agreement.

"Midna, do you have any idea what's causing this?" Kirito asked. "I'm not sure." Midna replied, "With the Spirits of Light, it should be impossible to have the twilight spread this much. Either Zant is using some sort of strange magic to make this, or there is another cause." "We should look around to see where to start." Kirito told the group, "Let's start at that town over there." Everyone nodded in agreement, Midna dove into Link's shadow, and they raced towards it.

Getting to the town was tough. Since the Heartless loved the twilight area, they kept getting in the way. However, Link in his Hylian form was more useful than his wolf form. Not only was he a skilled swordsman, but he also carried weapons like a whirlwind boomerang, a bunch of bombs, and even a bow and arrows. Seeing this just begged the question 'where was he keeping them?'.

The team made it across the bridge, and into the town, which was simply called 'Castle Town'. Inside, the team examined their surroundings. The town looked like a medieval styled town, and it was lively with people…who, thanks to the twilight, was now spirits. The spirits were basically light green flames flickering above the ground. Asuna fearfully hid behind Kirito as they walked around town.

"So these are the spirits of people." Kirito assumed, looking at them. "Yes. These people have no idea they are in this twilight." Midna explained as they looked around, "They can't see us, but we can see them. I can even allow you to hear them." "That doesn't stop the fact that this really creeps me out." Asuna shuddered, "I take it back; Halloween Town was less creepy than this."

"If we can hear them talkin', maybe one of these fellers know what's causin' the twilight." "Seems like a good start." Kirito agreed, "Lets split up. Asuna, Link and I will go to the main street. Sora, Donald and Midna should check one half of the alleyways. Yui and Goofy, head to a different part of town as well. Got it? Then let's move out!" And with that, the team split up.

Finding information was difficult, considering the amount of spirits. Before leaving, Midna granted them a bit of power to hear the spirits. She also decided to turn Link into a wolf, since his senses are better in his beast form. Link and Kirito led a frightened Asuna through town, stopping at every spirit to listen into their conversations.

Meanwhile, Sora, Donald and Midna went along the alleyways, searching desperately for clues, while Yui and Goofy raced off another path. All Sora could figure out was that this sudden mist came over the land like before, and they saw a large monster off in the distance that created it. As such, it stood to reason that whatever this shadow is, it is big, and not here. From Kirito's crew, the information they got was that the black beast had yellow eyes, and a heart-shaped hole in its' chest. This mean that they were dealing with a Pureblood Heartless. Kirito wondered if it was something like Dark Thorn from Sora's world.

The two parties got together again. "Did you figure anything out?" Kirito asked. "Only that a black shadow is what's causing this twilight." Sora replied, "What about you?" "The townsfolk saw a large Heartless from a distance. My guess it's the same shadow the people are talking about."

"So a Heartless is what's causing this twilight?" Midna asked, surprised. "Looks like that." Kirito answered, "I bet that Pete and this Zant character are working together, consuming Hyrule in an inescapable twilight, and making it easy for the Shadow Beasts and Heartless to attack the people and make them into one of their own." "How despicable!" spat Donald. "That's scary." Asuna shuddered. "Zant… how far will you go?" snarled Midna.

"Now that we know what is causing it, we need to know where it is." Sora stated, "We need to go search for more clues." "No need for that!" Yui's voice shouted, and the team turned to see Yui and Goofy race up to them, "We found out where the problems happening." "We found out from a bar that a monster was seen close by that Great Bridge of Hylia." "Then that's where we're going." Kirito responded, "Let's go!" Asuna was grateful to leave the town, racing out ahead of the group, careful not to get too close to the spirits. She was the first to leave Castle Town ahead of the group.

Once everyone was out, the team raced towards the great bridge, through the fields. The Heartless were swarming the place like cockroaches, and the team had to take care of them, otherwise they would try to make it to the townsfolk. Link went back to Hylian form, and started attacking with his Master Sword.

Kirito and Link got separated from the crew at one point, and were back to back, surrounded by Heartless. "Link, let's see what happens if we work together." Kirito stated. Link nodded in response, and the two clashed their weapons together to form their Limit Break, 'Golden Hylia'.

Link raised his sword, and the Triforce on the back of his sword hand glowed. Immediately, a large Triforce symbol appeared on the ground around them, spreading a wide radius. Kirito and Link's eyes flashed, and they went to work. They used 'Great Spin', in which they stood back to back and spun around with their swords out stretched, and 'Jump Strike', in which Kirito and Link jumped forward in unison, slamming their blades into the ground to create a shockwave.

Their final attack was 'Triforce Slash', in which the symbol on the ground floated up and a duplicate came down from above, sandwiching the Heartless in the middle. The shining triangles flipped vertically, with Kirito and Link on either side. They then started to swipe randomly, their blade extended as they attacked the defenseless Heartless. Then with one final slash, they stabbed right through the Triforce symbol on each side, shattering it and finishing off all the Heartless in between. They landed onto the ground, twirled their blades around, and sheathed them into their backs, though Kirito didn't have a scabbard for his Keyblade.

The team continued to press on, going towards the bridge. It took some time, but the team eventually made it to the bridge. They started to cross it, wondering what they would meet. They stopped close to the middle when they saw someone in front of them. Someone that made Midna look angry.

In front of them was two people. One was Pete. The other was a human-like figure. His face could not be seen through his lizard-like helm. He wore a metal shoulder-guard that wrapped itself around his chest, with a red embedded gem. He also wore a black and neon green-lined robe, his hands unable to be seen through the long sleeves. He also wore a red piece of cloth between his robe and shoulder guard with yellow decoration. Underneath his robes, he wore bronze colored metal shoes.

"Zant!" snarled Midna. "It looks like I wasn't able to kill you before." Zant replied, "How unfortunate. I really hoped to get the two of you out of the way, but yet you come back here once more, and with more troublesome characters." He indicated the six heroes around Link and Midna.

"Heh. Here that? We're troublesome characters." Kirito told Sora smugly. "You're the one whose causing all of this twilight!" barked Asuna, pointing her Keyblade at Zant, "Return it back to normal! Give these people their lives back!" "And what makes you give the right to order me, a king, around?" asked Zant, "My powers were granted by a god. There's no possible way you can stop me. Midna, why not join my side? Together, we can take over the land of the light dwellers, and rule the land in darkness!"

"You still don't understand, Zant." Midna sighed, "You will never understand. Ruling a land in darkness and chaos isn't the right way to rule. Just because you have incredible powers, it doesn't give you the rights of a king!" There was a moments pause, then Zant turned his head to one side. "Very well… If you don't intend to join me, I have no other choice but to destroy you. Pete, show these fools the power of darkness you possess!"

Pete stepped forward, raised his fingers to his mouth, and whistled loudly. The sound echoed down to the lake below. After a long pause, the bridge started to shake a bit, and the heroes tried to maintain their footing as Pete and Zant calmly stood there. All of a sudden, from below, a black figure appeared from the side of the bridge. It was massive, muscular, and menacing. It had wild hair, small wings, large arms and claws, small feet, and a large heart-shaped hole in its' chest. It was also pulsating with orange lines along its' body, like veins. It's beady eyes bared down upon the group.

"I know this thing." Sora muttered, "How can I forget? This is the very first Heartless I faced." "It's called Darkside." Yui analyzed, "A Pureblood Heartless. One of the strongest, too. But for some strange reason, my scanner says it shouldn't have those orange lines." "This dark beast has been imbued with my powers of twilight!" Zant shouted, "It is no ordinary Heartless. It is Twilit Darkside!"

The Heartless raised its' hands to the sky, and roared as the orange lights around its' body glowed brightly. Black specs shot into the sky, where they started to spread throughout Hyrule. "That thing's responsible for creating the twilight here!" gasped Goofy. "We have to take it down!"

Midna looked from the Heartless to where Zant and Pete stood, but they were no longer there. Midna curled her fists in fury, but Link tapped her shoulder. She looked to him, and he nodded to her, assuring it was okay. He then set his sights on the Darkside, who lowered its' hands and turned back to the weapon-drawn crew. Midna dove into Link's shadow. The battle on the bridge was about to begin.

* * *

**Chapter 5: Vs. Twilit Darkside**

The Darkside raised a fist, and slammed it down upon the group. The team scattered as the fist crashed onto the bridge, producing a dark pool and a shockwave to appear. "What's that?!" Asuna gasped, seeing the dark pool, and a few Shadow Heartless spawning from it. "The Darkside is an elite Heartless. It has the ability to produce Shadows." Yui explained.

"Target its' fist while it is stuck in the ground!" Sora told the crew as he, Donald and Goofy went in for the attack, knocking the Shadows away and striking the Heartless's fist. Kirito, Asuna, Yui and Link joined into the attack, slicing at the fist a few times before the Darkside relinquished it.

It raised its' hands and scooped in a ball of dark twilight energy, then it dispersed into smaller orbs, and rained down onto the group. Donald, Asuna and Yui got hit, but Sora and Kirito quickly evaded while Goofy and Link used their shields to protect themselves.

The Heartless grasped the bridge with both hands as it raised its' chest, and missiles made of mixed dark and twilight energy shot out of the heart hole in his chest, homing itself onto the crew. The team did their best avoiding them. Asuna, Yui and Link decided to attack the hands that were gripping onto the side of the bridge.

Kirito shoved Sora out of the way in order to take the hit from a couple missiles. "You okay, Kirito?" Sora asked. "Yeah, just peachy." Kirito moaned, shaking his head as he got back up again, "Just keep your eyes open!" The Darkside let go of the bridge, and readied its fist again. The team focused themselves, and begun to attack it once more.

The Heartless basically did these same three moves during the first half of the battle, punching onto the bridge, raining balls of twilight energy, and homing energy missiles. The team was unable to attack physically unless it sent its' hands down within range of their attacks. Though magic attacks were good long range attacks, along with Link's boomerang and arrows.

After a while, it started to do something else. It dove underneath the bridge, and started sending its' hand through a black and red portal, almost always hitting one of the crew. However, after every third strike, it would pause for a second, its' arm sticking out. This gave the team a chance to attack it. After a few seconds, it would retract its' arm, and come up on the opposite side of where it was before.

This Heartless was tricky, but its' size and brute strength were its' weaknesses. It was hard to attack while throwing balls of twilight orbs, but it was too stupid to not just use that attack. Every time it pounded its' fists or grasped the side of the bridge it made an easy target for the crew to attack. Every once in a while, it did the same attack from below, but it still gave a chance for the crew to attack.

The Heartless relinquished its fist from another failed punch. The Heartless was almost down. The team was somewhat worn out themselves, but they still had plenty of stamina left to win. "C'mon, just wait for that one opportunity to slip up." Kirito muttered under his breath.

What they had not expected was for it to back away from the bridge slightly, then thrusted its' hands against it, causing a massive shockwave upon it. Rubble started to fall from the bridge beneath it. The team knocked off their feet. This wasn't normal. Something was up with this monster.

The team sat up as the Darkside gathered up some of the twilight energy into its' body once more, only a lot more than just a simple orb barrage. The hole in its' heart started to fill with a bright orange energy. "Look out. It's about to do something big." Sora warned the crew as they got to their feet again.

The Darkside rose even higher into the air, and landed on one end of the bridge. It concentrated, then fired a blast of energy down the bridge, towards where the team stood, horrified. "Run!" shouted Kirito, and the team raced down the bridge, being pursued by the blast of energy. Kirito could tell there was no way of outrunning it, and the other side of the bridge was blocked by a shadowy barrier placed by Pete.

Kirito turned his head back, horrified about what's gonna happen. Link dove right in front of him, his shield up. He protected Kirito as the blast hit his shield. Kirito pressed himself onto Link, adding more endurance to the pressure of the blast. The rest of the team was unable to outrun it, so they did the only thing they could. They leapt over either side of the bridge, falling down to Lake Hylia below, screaming in panic. "Asuna! Yui! Everyone!" shouted Kirito over the raging blast.

Asuna, Sora, Donald, Goofy and Yui were screaming as they fell down to the Lake Below. Asuna stopped panicking and straightened her body, keeping her body rigid and straight as she dove head first into the water, followed by everyone else. Goofy hit the top of the water like concrete, before sinking into the water.

The Darkside's attack subsided, and Kirito immediately rushed over to look down at the lake below. Using his SAO eyesight, he was able to see the other five pop out of the water. Asuna and Sora looked fine, but Donald and Yui had to hoist up the unconscious Goofy above the surface.

Kirito sighed in relief as Link joined his side. "They're alright." he assured Link, "Goofy looks a bit dazed, but besides that, they're fine." Link smiled at Kirito, who smirked back. Then the two boys glared as the Darkside jumped off the bridge and surfaced itself in front of the two boys.

"You just messed with the wrong team, you black muscle-head." growled Kirito, he and Link raising their blades. The Heartless raised its' hands once more, and the two prepared to attack. However, the Darkside had other plans. It swung its' hands down and grabbed each of them, squeezing them as he raised the two towards its' face. Kirito and Link struggled to get free from the clutches of the Heartless, but to no avail.

Kirito looked at the face of the Heartless, and saw its' eyes. It was fearful, and dangerous. Kirito stopped struggling, unable to move. He was petrified. This monster definitely caused Kirito fear. The beast was a lot smarter than he thought. It squeezed Kirito harder, and he gasped in pain. It felt like this was the end for him.

An explosion in the other arm drew the Darkside's attention. A bomb was set off by Link, releasing him from the Heartless's grip and causing him to fall. "Link!" shouted Kirito, shocked to see him fall. Link, however, pulled out a new weapon, a hookshot, and shot a claw and chain at a part of the Heartless's body, latching onto it. He then pulled himself up, leaping off of it, landing on the arm that had Kirito.

He thrusted his Master Sword into the arm, causing it pain and making it let go of Kirito. Kirito quickly managed to grab one of the fingers of the Heartless before he fell, and climbed his way back up. Link helped him up, and together, the boys jumped back onto the bridge again.

"Thanks, Link." Kirito sighed, doubled-over slightly, "I lost my nerve there." Link patted his shoulder, and Kirito looked up to see Link with an assuring expression. Kirito looked at him for a second, then realized something. He also looked at the Heartless's eyes as well, but he wasn't afraid, so he shouldn't either.

Kirito stood up straight again, facing Link. "You know, you really are something, Link. You got a lot more guts than me. I should learn a thing or two from you." Link smirked. Kirito smirked as well. He could tell that Link was thinking the same thing about Kirito's leadership.

The roar of the Darkside drew their attention, and they saw the Heartless ready to strike at them once more. "You may have frightened me before, but I'm not gonna let that happen again." Kirito warned the Heartless, "With Link and I together, we will become the unstoppable force that'll take you down, and eliminate the twilight. Only then will these people be free from your clutches. The people of this land. Our friends. Our comrades. They are counting on us to stop you in your tracks. So get ready, cause we're gonna win this battle!" Kirito and Link roared in fury, stunning the Darkside, and drawing the five heroes on the edge of the lakeshore upwards.

Suddenly, a light in Link's chest started to glow brightly. Link and Kirito both looked at it, then Kirito's body started to glow as well. "What's this?" Kirito asked, looking at his body, "I can feel some sort of new power coming from you, Link. It's joining us together."

Link placed his right hand to the light in his chest, closing his eyes to feel the energy. He snapped them open, and removed his hand, revealing an orb of light in his palm. He tossed the ball upwards, where it spiraled upwards, settling itself down in front of Kirito. "Is this…a Drive Orb?" Kirito questioned, then realized, "It's a Soul Drive Orb. Our hearts have been connected, and a new power is coming from it!" Kirito touched the orb, and it dove into his body. His body started to glow a light green energy as he felt the new power. "_Hylian Soul!_" shouted Kirito, and his body bursted with energy.

In a cutscene, his attire changed from head to toe. His Keyblade was blade first in the ground before him, and he reached his gauntlet out to pull it out of the ground. He swiped it around furiously, ending with a sword spin, shouting a battle cry like Link's, before raising the Keyblade upwards triumphantly.

Asuna gasped as her eyes glowed with her SAO eyesight. Kirito had transformed into a new Soul Drive. He wore a floppy hat like Link's. His coat became a tunic, over a white, long-sleeved shirt and chain mail, with his black pendant sticking out. His cross-straps and belt became brown, with golden buckles. Kirito's gloves were now leather gauntlets. His slacks became knee-low white pants, and his shoes became brown boots. The Triforce symbol was embedded onto his left gauntlet, where he held his Keyblade. His shoulder-guards became miniature forms of the Hylian shield.

Kirito's eyes were set as the Heartless looked stunned at the transformation, then it thrusted its hands forward, slamming them into the bridge. The two boys jumped up onto the ledge and jumped just before the shockwave took place. They landed on each arm of the Heartless, and slashed furiously at the Heartless's head.

Kirito's new combo of attacks were like Link's, including using a Sword Spin. Kirito used his new ground Finisher, 'Leaping Strike', jumping at the Darkside with a powerful attack, and sending a shockwave all across its' body.

Link and Kirito leaped high into the air as the Heartless flinched form the move. They looked to one another, and nodded in agreement. They held their swords, pointing them downwards like they were on pogo sticks, and dove down at the Heartless, roaring furiously. The Darkside looked up just in time as the two thrusted down upon the Heartless's body. The monster started to fall, the duo pushing it down to the lake below.

Asuna, Sora, Yui, Donald and Goofy all watched as the Darkside fell from above, splashing heavily into the water, sending a wave crashing into the shoreline. The five shielded themselves from the water sprays, then turned to see what happened to Kirito and Link. The water died down, revealing the two on a small piece of land in the middle of the lake, watching the Heartless disappear into darkness.

"They did it!" cheered Sora. "Hooray!" cheered Donald. "And Kirito's got a new Soul Drive!" Yui added. "Look! The twilight is fading away." Goofy pointed out. Everyone looked up. The twilight atmosphere started to fade away, revealing the sunny sky once more. The spirits on the shoreline far from them turned to people again. Everyone looked happily all around the place, except for Asuna, who stared at Kirito and Link.

The two boys looked around, then looked to one another. Kirito fist-pumped in victory. Link smiled and nodded in response. Midna appeared out of the shadows in front of Kirito. "It looks like you're just full of surprises, boy." she told him. Kirito's body glowed, and he reverted back to normal again. "I get that a lot." Kirito chuckled, "But at least everyone's safe in Hyrule once more." "Not until Zant is stopped." Midna retorted, "Once he is gone, then both the light realm and Twilight realm will be safe again. We cannot allow him to mold the two into darkness." Kirito nodded in agreement.

Kirito, Link and Midna made their way back to the group. All of a sudden, a shimmering light appeared before Kirito. He held his hand out, and a new Keyblade keychain appeared, one with gold links and a Triforce symbol for its' medallion. "That's the 'Mark of Courage' Keyblade." Yui explained, "It has great physical strength, and it'll increase your defenses in critical situations."

Kirito took the keychain and switched it with his Elucidator. The new Keyblade became something like the Master Sword, except for the purple, rounded guard and the Triforce symbol as the teeth. Kirito gripped it tightly, and the bird symbol appeared around the teeth, adding wider range. "This'll come in handy." Kirito acknowledged, putting his Keyblade away.

"Since things have calmed down here, we'd better get going." Sora told Link and Midna. "You have to leave so soon?" Midna asked curiously. "We gotta." Asuna replied, "There are other places that will be falling into darkness if we don't stop Pete, the Heartless, and many other foes." "But we'll be back to check up on things." Sora assured Midna, "After all, you guys are our friends." Midna smirked slyly, but it was a grin that also showed her kindness. "You'd better come back with those blades of yours." she told them.

"Take care, Link." Kirito told Link, shaking his hand, "I hope you stop Zant. And make sure Midna doesn't control you too much." Link nodded again in a reassuring way. Kirito turned to walk away when he heard a male voice behind him say, "Be brave, Kirito." Kirito stopped, surprised. He turned back to Link, who smiled at him.

"Wha?!" squawked Donald. "Did he just…?" Goofy started. "I think he did." Asuna gasped. "He actually did!" Sora gasped. Kirito paused for a second, then smirked. "Yeah. Thanks, Link." he answered, and he walked through the stunned five, who looked to Kirito as he left, then to Link, then back at Kirito, and realized they were getting left behind. Midna rested herself on Link's shoulder as the two watched the six heroes leave, going towards the next world.

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**A new Soul Drive for Kirito had been found! Kirito's new Keyblade is on my Deviant Arts page, if anyone is interested. His Hylian Soul is not on yet, but I will draw it and send it in. Please review, tell your friends, and move onto the next episode!**

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**Next time on SAKII:**

**Goofy: Gawrsh, it sure is hot here!**

**Sora: This world is a pirate world, so why are we in a desert?**

**Asuna: Ah! That boy with the straw hat can stretch his body!**

**Kirito: And that black-haired woman is certainly mysterious. What's her story?**

**Sora: Dunno, but we have to help these pirates with the princess. C'mon!**

**Author: On the next Sword Art Kingdom: Dimensional Bonds: Alabasta Kingdom! Baroque Works Brawl!**

**Luffy: I'm gonna be King of the...**

**Asuna: 'WHACK' Shut up! This is our bit! Ahem...**

******Sora, Kirito & Asuna: Let's unlock the path to our bonded hearts!**


	13. Alabasta! Baroque Works Brawl!

**This has got to be my longest episode yet. No, it is. I worked so hard on this one, that I had no idea it would be this long. It's probably because I love One Piece, and I love Kingdom Hearts and Sword Art Online. Plus, Fanfiction author 'kingdom cure' inspired a lot of this work, thanks to his 'Second Chance as a Pirate' series. Here's the completed work.**

**Note: Some characters and moments are missing in this story from the anime 'One Piece'. I kept what I could in the story plot, and hopefully people will still enjoy this episode**

_(This story is based on the anime 'Sword Arts Online and Kingdom Hearts II. Due to not have read the manga of SAO, I'm only going by what I have watched.)_

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Chapter 1: Meet & Greet at Rainbase

After guiding the Gummi ship through another obstacle course full of Heartless and Unversed, they finally arrived at the diving point. Asuna made the dive and unlocked the gate. Once Asuna got back to the ship, the team looked down at the new world below. They could see that it was a vast ocean-like world, with tons of islands all around. The focal point was a very large, desert island, with a couple of large cities in it.

"Wow, look at the ocean in that place." Asuna gasped, looking at the scenery with Donald at her side. "So what's the name of this place?" Sora asked Yui, who was at the computer. "Let's see…" Yui muttered as she pulled up Sahz's system, "Got it! The place were going to is called 'Alabasta Kingdom'. Apparently, it's in a middle of a civil war right now. It was formed mainly from the fact that the country hasn't had rain for three years."

"A civil war?" Kirito asked, "That would be a preferable place for Heartless to pop up." "And probably Unversed, too." Goofy added.

"Does it say anything else?" Donald asked Yui. "Apparently this world is also in the middle of something called the 'Great Pirate Era'." "Pirates? Cool!" cheered Sora, "So it's like Jack's world, huh?" Kirito remembered Jack Sparrow way back when. It was quite a while ago since he saw him. "Probably a lot brighter than Port Royal." Asuna stated. "So what are we waiting for?" Asuna asked, standing up, "Let's go help out this world's troubles." Everybody stood up as well, and they all walked to the transporter as Yui set the coordinates. The team all teleported down to the surface.

When they got there, they found themselves in the middle of a town. The architecture was Arabian mixed with a 19th century American feel to it. There were palm trees sprouted around the place.

"It's hot here." Goofy said, wiping the sweat off of his forehead. "Kind of has the feeling of Agrabah." Sora quoted as he looked around. "Except I don't think Agrabah had that." Kirito pointed out a large building in the distance. It was a large, building, with an Egyptian-like structure, only on top of the building was a large, golden alligator with a banana attached to its' head. "What is that?" Donald asked as the team stared at it. "I don't know." Kirito replied, "But it looks like someplace we should investigate. Let's start there."

Suddenly, Heartless appeared from all around them. Luna Bandits, and Shadows, even some new ones that looked like the Luna Bandits, but with white attire, and they carried spears. The team whipped out their weapons in response to this. "Looks like we're right on the money with this one." Sora stated as he prepared to attack with his Keyblade. "Yui, what are the new ones?" Kirito asked. "Spear Bandits." Yui replied, "They have a long reach with those weapons." "Then lets attack them before they attack us!" Asuna declared, and the team went to work,

The Spear Bandits did have a long reach, and they spun their spears around like a tornado. Jumping over on top of them was the only option. Also firing Blizzard attacks helped out a lot. It took a couple minutes, but they eventually cleared the area.

"I bet those aren't the only ones." Kirito guessed. Sora, Asuna and the others nodded in agreement. "Let's head to that building over there." Asuna suggested, pointing to the large building with the alligator on top, "We should at least figure out what that place is, or if anyone needs help." "Gee, I wonder what kind of place that is?" Goofy asked.

They had just walked forward when a woman's voice said, "That's the casino of Rainbase, Rain Dinners." The team looked sharply up at the rooftop at one of the buildings and saw a beautiful woman sitting on the edge. She was tall, slender woman with black shoulder-length hair and crystal blue eyes. She had a bit of a tan on her. She had on a long white coat, despite the desert heat, with the crevice in her large chest showing a bit. and a white, cowboy style hat and shoes to match. In many cases, she was absolutely gorgeous, but also had a mysterious feel to her.

For a while, the group looked at the woman who sat above them, and she looked down at them. "So tell me, where did you come from?" the woman asked, eying the group, "You don't look like you're from around here." "Who are you?" Sora asked, trying to divert the question. The woman smiled down at them, "You can refer to me as Mrs. All Sunday." she replied, "That's my codename." Kirito felt something was off about this woman, particularly on how she slyly grinned at them. She knew something about them.

"I saw you appear out of nowhere." All-Sunday stated, looking down at the Keyblades the trio carried, "Do those things have anything to do with it?" The team nervously looked at one another. Usually, people don't notice them appear out of teleportation. Coming from other worlds is a secret. "We, uh, just fell out of the sky?" Sora suggested. _You make a bad liar, Sora._ Kirito, Asuna and Donald all thought to themselves.

All-Sunday looked down at Sora for a second, holding her sly smile. She then stood up again. "It doesn't matter how you came here. But I don't have time to deal with you. I have someone to pick up, and I really must be off. Take care." And with that, she turned around and started to walk off as she said, "By the way, if you really want to do something, I'd suggest going to Rain-Dinners would be a good start." And with that, she disappeared.

"Who was she?" Asuna asked, "Should we follow her advice?" Kirito looked down for a second, then turned to Sora and Yui. "What do you think?" he asked them. "I don't know." Yui replied, "If she's hiding her emotions, she's doing a really good job keeping them away from me."

"Well I say let's go there." Sora stated eagerly, "We were going there in the first place." "Just be ready for anything." Kirito stated, "We are in a new world, so anything's possible." With that, the six walked forward.

They wandered the street of Rainbase, seeing people walking around them, some giving quizzical looks at the group. "Maybe we should change our attire for this place." Asuna suggested, "I'm sure our munny has changed to the currency of this town, right? So let's find a shop." "Good idea." Sora replied, "All of these eyes are making me nervous." They found a nice shop to go into, and bought themselves some new coats to cover up their attire.

Kirito knew how much black absorbed heat, so he bought an orangish-brown, long-sleeved coat. Asuna found a white and blue striped cloak that protected her entire body. Sora bought a red desert robe, and made sure his necklace and hoodie stuck out of it. Goofy got on a desert robe a lot like Sora's, but it was green, and he had on a bright grey keffiyeh. Donald found a blue coat like Kirito's, only it had a hoodie which was used to cover up his duck-like face. Yui found herself a white jacket with pink highlights, and she also got a pair of sandals to protect her feet from the sand. They paid for their clothes and walked out of the shop.

The amount of eyes staring at them died down, and they were able to walk normally through the town. They could see all the people around them. Some looked like locals, Some of them had the initials BW on different parts of their clothing. Others were in white attire and hats that said 'Marine' on them.

Though once in a while, Heartless would pop out of nowhere, startling everyone around them as they drew their weapons to fight. A new addition was added to the mixture of enemies; Fiery Globes and a kind of Unversed called Red Hot Chili. They were easily disposed of thanks to a bit of their Blizzard magic.

They continued going along the streets until reaching one that had nobody within it. As they went along a crossover, Goofy stopped as he noticed someone, or rather something watching them. It looked like it was try to peer around the corner, only its body was totally reversed to how it should be, so it stuck out. It was a small reindeer that stood on two legs, with a pink hat, white shirt with green outline that covered its' brown pants, a purple long sleeved jacket, and a blue backpack. It was eying them with curiosity and fear.

Yui saw Goofy stopped and turned to see who he was looking at. "Who's that?" Yui asked, making the others stop and look. They all stared at the mysterious creature for a second, then Goofy piped up, "Hey, I think you have that hidin' thing backwards." The reindeer realized its' mistake, and attempted to reverse its' position. "Well, that's better, but it's a bit too late now." Asuna told it. The reindeer was startled at the fact it was startled. "We won't hurt you. Come on." Sora told it.

The reindeer looked to Sora, then it looked to Donald and Goofy. "You two. You're just like me." the reindeer spoke up. Donald and Goofy looked to one another, then back to the reindeer. "Are you humans who ate a Devil Fruit?" it asked, slowly bringing himself closer to the two.

"Devil Fruit?" Kirito asked, looking confused, "What the heck is that?" "You don't know?!" exclaimed the reindeer, "You mean you two haven't eaten one?!" "Well, we haven't eaten any Devil Fruit." Donald stated. "Yeah, were Donald and Goofy." Goofy introduced themselves, "And these guys are our friends Sora, Kirito, Asuna and Yui." "Hiya." Sora greeted the reindeer, kneeling down to shake his hand.

The reindeer was hesitant. "If you guys aren't Devil Fruit users, then what the heck are you?!" the reindeer asked. "Gee, I dunno." Goofy answered, puzzled for a second, then looked down at Donald, "What are we, Donald?" "Well, we're, um…" Donald started, but he stopped, also confused. "We're friends." Sora stated, rushing in between the two and hugging each of them, "That's all you need to know." "You are?" the little reindeer asked.

Suddenly, Heartless started appearing around group. The reindeer screamed and hid itself behind Sora's leg as the Heartless surrounded them. "We'll protect you!" Kirito told the reindeer as they all pulled their weapons out. They divided and conquered all of the Heartless that surrounded their group. One almost came up from behind Donald, but the reindeer came in close, and grew to a much bigger, much more muscular form. He came into the Heartless' path, and he knocked it out with one punch. Donald turned around and was startled by the reindeer's new appearance.

"How did you do that?!" Asuna asked in a shocked manner. "I ate the Human-Human Fruit." Chopper explained, who's voice hadn't changed from before, "I was originally a reindeer, so I can change between this human form, reindeer form, or a mix of both. That's the power of a Zoan-type Devil Fruit."

"I still have no idea what a Devil Fruit is, but that is so cool!" Sora gasped, smiling excitedly, "You really are an awesome guy." The reindeer transformed back to it's tiny form. "S-Shut up!" he snapped, dancing a bit with a happy face, "Praising me like that is not gonna make me happy, you idiot!" _Certainly isn't the most honest of characters._ Kirito thought to himself.

At this point, two Luna Bandits appeared on the rooftop close to Asuna and Yui's position. They jumped down, their blades ready to strike. Asuna had just turned around only to see someone fly in the air, kicking the two Heartless into a pile of crates, causing cracks to form in the wall behind it, and making them disappear. He looked a bit older than Kirito, with short, smooth blond hair, with bangs that covered his left eye, and he wore a black buttoned-up suit with a blue collar, black pants, shoes and orange-tinted glasses.

"Bastards, how dare you attack a couple of ladies like that." He said, turning to the spot where the Heartless were at. "Sanji!" cried the little reindeer. "What a kick." Kirito muttered. Sanji turned to Asuna and knelt before her. "Are you okay, mademoiselle?" Sanji asked. "I'm fine, thanks." she replied hesitantly. "Sanji, where have you been?!" the reindeer demanded, racing up to him, "One moment, those weird creatures started attacking, and then you disappeared!"

"Oh, there you are, Chopper." Sanji said, "Sorry, but I couldn't find you, so I searched until I found this damsel in distress." "Hey, don't make it sound like I'm helpless." Asuna frowned, "I can handle things myself." "Of course, young lady." Sanji replied in a respected tone, "Just know that I'll be your knight in shining armor should you ever be in trouble." _Oh, this guy's smooth._ Kirito thought with an amused tone.

"So who do I have the pleasure of meeting today?" Sanji asked Asuna. "I'm Asuna." she replied, "This is my daughter, Yui." "Daughter?" Sanji asked, seeing the other girl. "Adopted daughter." Asuna corrected him, "Over there are my friends, Sora, Donald, Goofy, and my boyfriend Kirito." She emphasized the word 'boyfriend' just to make things clear with the man before.

"B-BOYFRIEND?!" Sanji cried in dismay, then he placed on a cool demeanor almost instantly, "Well it doesn't matter. I already have some girls waiting in the…" The he stopped himself, realizing something that shocked him, "Wait a minute, what am I doing here?! Nami and Vivi are waiting for their Prince Charming to save them. I don't have time to spend here!"

He turned towards Rain-Dinners as he said, "C'mon, Chopper! We gotta find the ladies!" He started to run off. "Hey, what about everyone else?!" Chopper cried, chasing after him. The team looked to one another, then pursued them. "Hey, mind telling us who you are trying to save?" Kirito cried as he raced up next to Sanji. "Some crewmates of mine." he replied, "They're stuck inside that tall building over there. I need to go save them right away."

"Mind if we help you?" Sora asked, "We were told by someone that we should do something at that casino." "You'd really help us?!" Chopper asked eagerly. "How do we know you can be trusted?" Sanji asked suspiciously, "You aren't part of Baroque Works, are you?"

"Baroque Works?" Sora asked quizzically, "Sorry, but I have no idea who they are. I'm just doing this because I want to." "There's no use reasoning with Sora at this point." Asuna told Sanji, "Once he wants to do something, he'll do it."

"Heh, sounds like my brain-dead captain." Sanji huffed. "Captain?" Sora echoed. "Pirate captain, actually." Sanji stated, "I'm Sanji, the Straw-Hat Pirates' chef. Chopper over there is our doctor. So, do you still want to help us out now that you know we're pirates?" Sanji asked. "It doesn't matter to us if you're a pirate or not." Sora replied, "We'll still help. Though now, I more interested to see your captain. Let's go save them!" Everyone smiled at Sora's words as they continued to make their way towards Rain-Dinners, where the rest of the crew was waiting for them.

* * *

**Chapter 2: Rescue at Rain-Dinners**

They raced through the streets, nearing their way towards the large casino, fighting off a few more packs of Heartless that came in their path. As they ran, Chopper explained to them more about the powers of a Devil Fruit. There are different kinds of these fruit throughout the world, and they come in all kinds of forms. Once divulged, the person is granted the powers of that fruit, but they lose the ability to swim. Kirito found this kinda stupid since, from what they saw, the world was mainly ocean. Still, if it gives you a strong power, it was probably a good tradeoff.

They finally arrived at the front of the large golden building of Rain-Dinners, which they found was surrounded by a large lake. The front of the place was also surrounded by a bunch of men, who were all armed, and they all had the same BW initials on their clothing. "BW…" Yui read, "Baroque Works. That must be what it stands for!" "Yeah, these guys are part of that organization." Sanji explained, "If we're to save Nami, Vivi and the others, we need to find a way to get inside and get their boss out." "So how do you propose we do it?" Kirito asked. They all thought for a second, then Sanji spoke up. "I've got an idea. Just follow my lead."

They started out by taking out the people of Baroque Works at the front of the gate, making sure they were down and out. Sanji told them to keep one alive in order to continue with the plan. They kept one guy alive, though beaten badly, and he, Chopper, Yui, Asuna and Goofy ran over into the shadows of the casino. Meanwhile, Sanji had prepared some explosives and told Kirito, Sora and Donald to set them up along the bridge.

Once that was done, they arrived back to the others to see Sanji pull out a snail with a phone speaker on it. It was basically a cell phone made for this world. Sora, Donald and Goofy were all amazed at it, while Kirito and Asuna were just surprised that snails could be used as phones. Sanji saw that the 'Transponder Snail' had only one connection; to the boss of Baroque Works, Mr. 0. Sanji and Chopper explained that Mr. 0 was really a Warlord, who were powerful pirates granted government protection in order to destroy other pirates, named Crocodile.

Sanji held up the speaker to his mouth as the Transponder Snail started to call for Mr. 0. Moments later, the phone picked up, followed by a familiar woman's voice. "Yes?" she said. "Is that Mrs. All-Sunday?" Kirito whispered to the others. Asuna nodded in reply. "Hello? Can you hear me?" Sanji started. "Yes, we can hear you." All-Sunday's voice replied, "You're a Millions, right? What do you want?"

"Hurry up and state your business. What is it?" said a deep, gruff male voice. Sanji smirked at the group before continuing, "Oh, now I know I've heard that voice before. Didn't I speak to you back in Little Garden?" There was a moment's pause, then the male voice, which the team assumed was Crocodile, spoke up. "Ah, yes. Mind telling me who you are?" "Me? Well…" Sanji put up a sort of smooth tone to his voice as he answered, "Just call me Mr. Prince?" "Seriously?" said a sweat-dropped Kirito and Donald.

"Very well, Mr. Prince." Crocodile continued, "Mind telling something else, like where you are?" "I'm afraid I can't say that. I don't want you to find me and get rid of me." Sanji replied, "I'm not gonna divulge information easily, unlike how you just did, Mr. 0." Just then, two more voices cried out from the other side of the snail. "Mr. Prince! Hurry! We're running out of time!" whined a young male voice. "Get the lead out, Mr. Prince. Come save us!" shouted another male voice. The two voices were melding together, their outcries untranslatable.

"Heh, that's my loud-mouth crew alright." Sanji chuckled, turning his head to the team before him, and counting down with his fingers, "Thanks for letting me know that they're with you. All I have to do is go there and rescue…" Once he curled his last finger, Kirito grabbed the gun that belonged to the captured man had and shot in the air. This followed by Sanji delivering a low sweep onto the man, causing him to collapse and grunt in pain. This created the illusion of Mr. Prince being shot down by someone. To add an extra touch, Asuna let out a panicked scream.

Sora picked up the man from underneath the shoulders and held him to the speaker of the phone. "Talk!" Sanji whispered with a death tone. "We got him, sir. Don't worry, he won't be going anywhere in this condition." "So where are you? Speak up." asked Crocodile. "I'm at the front of the casino at Rainbase, Rain-Dinners." "Stay right there." Crocodile ordered, and he hung up the Transponder Snail.

"That did it." Kirito sighed. Sora let go of the man, who held his footing as he stood there. "Nice job. That was such a convincing performance you made there. You should really start a career in acting." "Really?" the man said, "Gee thanks! You'll let me go now, right?" "Nope." Sanji replied, and he delivered a kick to his head, knocking him out.

The team looked to the outside of the lake. More BW agents started to gather around the fallen men they dealt with before. "It your turn, Chopper. You know what to do." Sanji told him. "Right. I'll do whatever I can." Chopper replied. "Good luck, Chopper." Sora cheered for him, "We're counting on you." Kirito told him. As Chopper moved across the bridge towards the crowd of agents, the rest of the crew split up and hid on two sides of the staircase leading into Rain-Dinners.

They watched as Chopper got the agents' attention, and after a bit of questioning, Chopper raised his fists in the air and pumped out his muscles. "Yes, it was me, Mr. Prince!" Chopper shouted, barging into the crowd and taking down one agent after another, shouting Mr. Prince as he did so. "Way to go, little guy." Kirito whispered as Yui and Goofy chuckled at the performance.

After a while, Chopper hid around the corner, though in the reverse hiding style he was use to. Moments later, team saw two people walk out. One of them was Mrs. All-Sunday. The other was a older man, in his forties, dressed like he was an Italian mafia boss, including the dark green coat that draped over his shoulders. He had a horizontal scar across his face that was stitched up, and he had a golden hook on his left hand.

"Yep. This guy wreaks of villainy." Sora stated as he, Donald, Asuna and Sanji watched him and Mrs. All-Sunday. After interrogating one of his fallen agents, he noticed Chopper, who took off at the sight of his gaze. Suddenly, the lower half of Crocodile's body turned sand and he pursued Chopper. "He turned into sand?" Asuna gasped. "A Devil Fruit user." Sanji snarled, "And a Logia type. That a Warlord for ya. C'mon, let's go!"

The team came out of hiding as Sora and Kirito got close to the bridge. "_Thunder!_" they shouted in unison, and the casted lightning bolts down onto the explosives, igniting them. The result was just what they wanted; the chain reaction of explosions caused the bridge to collapse into the lake. This also stirred the crowd inside the casino as they panicked since they couldn't get out. A bunch of people gathered around the stairs as the team made their way up the stairs.

As Kirito ran, he turned back to see the outskirts of the lake. Mrs. All-Sunday was looking back at the damage, and suddenly, the two locked eyes with one another. Kirito saw the expression on her face, which was calm. _Who is that woman? _Kirito thought to himself as he stared at her, _She looks like she's part of our enemy, yet she told us to come here. Why?_ Kirito was puzzled, but he didn't have time to think about it. He turned his head forward again as the team sprinted up into the casino.

Once they entered the interior of the casino, they could see everyone was in a panic since the bridge collapsed. People were running everywhere, and it was hard to keep together in the crowd. However, they eventually found their way through, and Sanji noticed the back of someone in the crowd with a desert overall like Asuna's, only purple with a white outline.

"Hey, princess." greeted Sanji, tapping the person's shoulder, "Have you seen my friends?" The woman flinched in fright and turned around. She was a young lady around the same age as Asuna, with long blue hair with two bangs hanging down on either side of her face.

She saw Sanji and was relieved. "Sanji, you're here!" she sighed, "What happened? Where's Chopper? I heard the bridge collapsed outside." "Chopper's our decoy right now." Sanji explained, "As for the bridge, I had a little help from these guys." He waved his hand to Sora, Kirito, Asuna and the gang. The princess looked at them surprisingly and suspiciously. "Don't worry, they're trustworthy. Especially Asuna here." Sanji assured her. Asuna rolled her eyes.

"You helped us?" she asked them. "You got it." Kirito answered stepping forward, "I'm Kirito. These are my friends Sora, Asuna, Donald, Goofy and Yui. We're here to help save this captain of yours." The princess looked to them, then to Sanji, then back at them, not sure if they could be trusted. "We can discuss these things after we're done saving the rest of the crew." Sanji intruded, "Lets get a move on. Lead the way, Vivi." The woman nodded, and she led the team down a corridor towards where her friends were captive.

After a minute of running, the team found themselves in an open room that was being flooded by water from the lake. The stone stairs before them led down below, only its' mid-section was destroyed, or rather bitten off. On the ground floor was a ton of debris, along with a bunch of Heartless and Unversed, and one giant living alligator with a banana growing out of its' head, just like the statue on top of the casino.

There was also a large cell in the middle of the room, and in it were four people. The team assumed it must've been the other crew members and their captain. Three of them were crying out for help as they were stuck in the cage.

Sanji, Kirito and Sora led the team into diving down to the ground floor. The water had already reached up their legs. Sora, Kirito, Asuna, Donald, Goofy and Yui dashed forward until they were between the cage and the giant alligator, their weapons at the ready. "Hey! Who're these guys?" asked the long-nosed guy in the olive-green robes. "This thing…" Sora said, looking up at the growling alligator, "…is GIGANTIC!" "What's with the banana on its' head?" Kirito asked, not as stunned as Sora, but still shocked. "I don't care who you guys are, just let us out!" cried the orange-haired girl in the white desert overalls.

"_Bad Manner Kick-Course!_" shouted Sanji, getting from underneath the alligator, and with one leg, he kicked the alligator high into the air, despite its' immense size. The six of them all gaped in amazement. "What kind of strength does this guy have?!" Asuna gasped. "He's so strong!" Donald exclaimed. "All right, Sanji!" cheered the girl in the cage. "Don't just stand there, get us out!" said the green haired man with the three swords on his waist. "Vivi, way to go!" shouted the boy with the straw hat and red robes. He gave Vivi a thumbs up, who returned it back.

Just then, the Heartless and Unversed started drawing in closer to the cage. "GAAAH!" cried the long-nosed guy, "Those black creatures are coming in close! What do we do?!" "Just leave them to us." Kirito replied, getting himself into battle position again. The six of them charged at the swarm of dark creatures before them, which composed of Fiery Globes, Luna Bandits and Fat Bandit Heartless, along with some Red Hot Chili and Scrapper Unversed. The team found water to have gone down a bit, making them a bit more agile, but they had to refrain from using Thunder, since it could electrocute everyone. However, most of the enemies were easily disposed of from their Blizzard magic.

Another giant alligator joined the fray of enemies, and since Sanji was busy protecting the cage from Heartless and Unversed, the six heroes ended up dealing with the alligator. It was powerful and swift. It attempted to bite them or whip them with its' large tail. The team did their best to avoid getting hit by it, and struck it hard with their weapons.

Kirito saw an opening and dashed straight underneath its' belly. "It may be tough on the top, but it's belly is vulnerable." Kirito growled, readying his Keyblade. "Then let's take it out as one." Asuna suggested, running next to Kirito. Kirito nodded. "One…" Kirito started. "Two…" Asuna followed. "Three!" they shouted together, and they mustered all their strength as they struck their Keyblades at the gator's belly. Its' eyes bulged out in pain, and it was sent hurdling into the air by the two, crashing down to the ground, too pained from moving.

"You did it!" Goofy cheered. "Hooray!" whooped Donald. "There's a lot more where that came from." Sanji warned them. Kirito and Asuna turned to see what he was talking about. About a dozen or more giant alligators were crawling out of an open hole into the room, growling down at them. The team was startled at the amount. "There's no way we can take all these gators on!" said a panicked Asuna. "If I could just get out, I can smash those weird bananas into pudding!" growled the strawhat boy. "They're alligators, not bananas." Kirito muttered, staring at the boy.

"Leave it to me!" Sora stated, walking to the cell door. He whipped his Keyblade at the door, and a beam of light shot out at the keyhole. The power of the Keyblade unlocked the cell door, and it swung open for them. "Woah! So cool!" gasped an amazed strawhat boy, "How did you do that?!" "The Keyblade can unlock any lock." Sora answered, raising his weapon.

"Seriously? It can do that?!" the long-nosed guy asked as the four pirates stepped out of the cage. "And it doubles as a sword, despite it not having any sharp edges." the green-haired man stated. "The Keyblade contains all kinds of powers." Kirito explained, "I'm still figuring it out myself, but the Keyblade has been helpful to me ever since I gained it." "I get it. It's a mystery key." the strawhat boy stated. "You don't get it at all!" shouted the other three, air-slapping at him.

"Um, in case you haven't noticed, there are monstrous alligators closing in on us!" Asuna cried to the team. Kirito, Sora, the strawhat boy and the green haired swordsman all stepped forward next to Asuna as they got up onto one of the lifeless gators. The other gators glared down at them, growling and snarling. One of them attempted to strike. "I got this!" the strawhat stated, raising his fist. "_Gum-Gum…_" and to the Keyblade wielder's amazement, he shot his fist forward, and his arm stretched out, "_…Pistol!_" His fist collided with the gator's head, and it toppled backward as the boy retracted his arm to normal.

Your arm just stretched!" Sora gasped. "Is that…a Devil Fruit power?" Kirito asked. "Yep." the boy answered, stretching one side of his mouth, "I'm a rubber man!" "Rubber man?" Asuna echoed, "That's quite a weird power." "We can talk about Luffy's crazy powers later!" snapped the swordsman, taking two of his swords out, "Let's finish these things off first!" "Right!" replied the three Keyblade wielders.

Meanwhile, Sanji was busy writing down a note to leave for Crocodile. "What's that for?" Donald asked. "Just a little message." Sanji answered, "We'd better get out of here fast before reinforcements arrive." "The best way is through that hallway back there!" said Yui, pointing towards where the gators were at, "If we get through there quick, we should be able to get out of here safely." "There's just one problem with that." Vivi interrupted, who joined the crown, "That's all of the Banana Gators in the way."

"There's no need to worry about that." Goofy told them. All of the gators had been finished off thanks to the five fighters, who were either putting their weapons away or retracting their fist. "Is that it? I could take on a hundred of you weird bananas!" shouted Luffy. Those who had not joined the fight just stood there, dumbfounded. "Uh, that problem's solved." said the orange haired girl. "They sure are strong!" squawked Donald. "And I had problems with only one!" sobbed Vivi, turning away and covering her eyes. "Don't be too hard on yourself. Those guys have monstrous strength. Though I didn't expect that from those three guys." He meant Sora, Kirito and Asuna.

Sora looked to Luffy. "Hey, you're pretty good." he complimented him. "Thanks! You're not so bad yourself!" Luffy replied with a grin. "Save the compliment until after we escape from here." Asuna stated exasperatedly. "She's right." Kirito agreed, turning to the rest of the team, "Let's make a run for it!" And with that, Everyone ran out of the collapsing room, being chased by the incoming water that started pouring in from the cracks.

Moments later, the doors from the top of the stairs swung open, and Crocodile stood there. "All right, Straw Hats! Time to pay!" he boomed, "If the Banana Gators haven't gotten to you, you'll be wishing they had by the time I'm through with you!" Seeing the scene before him, Crocodile's face turned to shock. The beaten up alligators all around the room. The floating table with the message Sanji left behind. The open cage that was underneath the water. But no sign of the Straw Hat pirates.

"This can't be!" growled Crocodile, dropping the actual key to the cage. He stood there, shaking in fury as Mrs. All-Sunday watched him, then looked down at the cage in the water. _Those three._ she thought to herself, recalling the trio who wielded the key-shaped weapons, _so it is true; Keyblades do exist._

* * *

**Chapter 3: Crocodile's Darkness**

It was sunset when the team managed to make their way outside the casino, on the edge of the lake. The water did sweep them away, but they managed to survive, though Luffy was seemingly paralyzed and the long-nosed boy was knocked unconscious from some rubble. The team waited until the two recovered.

"You guys really saved our lives back there." the orange haired girl told the six heroes, "Thank you so much." "Hey, I'm just glad you guys are safe." Sora stated eagerly, "Sanji and Chopper all said about how important you guys were, so we decided to help you."

"Well it's a good thing you came." the girl replied, "I'm Nami by the way. The swordsman over there is Zoro. And the two unconscious are Ussop and our captain, Luffy." Kirito watched as Sanji kept pressing down on the rubber-boy's oversized belly, who spat out water every time Sanji pressed. "Since it is the Straw-Hat Pirates, I'm guessing the one with the straw hat is the leader." Kirito assumed. "That's right." Nami replied, staring at the captain, "He may not look it, but he is resourceful." "I saw that with those alligators." Kirito responded.

"But beside what you said before, why did you decide on helping us anyway?" Vivi asked. "It's more of a clue someone gave us." Asuna replied, "She was rather mysterious, but she called herself Mrs. All-Sunday." "M-Mrs. All-Sunday?!" exclaimed Vivi, which drew the attention of the other pirates.

"But it looks like she's working for the enemy." Kirito replied in a concern tone. "But she did tell us to go to the casino." Goofy pointed out. "That makes things even more confusing." Asuna replied, "Just who's side is she on?" "I don't know." Vivi replied, "She is so mysterious. I can never really know what she is thinking."

Moments later, Luffy and Ussop woke up, and they woke up with vengeance. "All right! Full speed ahead to Alubarna!" shouted Ussop. "Where Crocodile?! I'm gonna kill him!" growled Luffy. "Finally awake, huh?" Nami asked them, only for Luffy's angered face to turn to her and the others.

Luffy noticed the six heroes who were with them, and he calmed himself down. "Hey, you're those guys with the mysterious keys." Luffy pointed out. "Oh, that's right. We haven't introduced ourselves." Asuna realized, "I'm Asuna. This is Kirito, Sora, Yui, Donald and Goofy." "I'm Monkey D. Luffy." the rubberboy introduced himself, "And I'm gonna be King of the Pirates." "And my name is Captain Ussop!" declared the long-nosed liar with a tone of bravado.

"We don't have time for the meet and greet." Sanji told the group, "The Marines might be coming our way as we speak. We have to head to Alubarna right away. Vivi, which direction is it?" "That way!" Vivi replied, pointing in a direction, "It's located in the east, across the desert." "Then that's where we're going." Zoro stated, getting to his feet as the pirate crew and princess gathered together.

"Mind if we tag along?" Sora asked them. "Why? You don't have any business with us, do ya?" Sanji asked. "Nah. I just have this feeling that going where you guys are going might be the best thing for us." Sora replied, turning to the group, "What do you say? Should we give them a hand?"

"Uh-huh." Donald and Goofy replied. "Might as well. It's not like we have anything better to do." Asuna answered. "What do you think, papa?" Yui asked Kirito. He looked at the group. "Before we go, let me ask you this; What are you planning to do exactly?" "Kick Crocodile's sandy ass!" Luffy roared. "And to stop a civil war from breaking out." Vivi added.

"So you wanna stop a war, huh?" Kirito asked with a smirk, "In that case, count us in. We were planning on stopping it anyway." "You were?" Vivi asked. "Sure. Less casualties means less Heartless." Kirito replied, "Heartless are created from the darkness in people's hearts. And with a war of malice going on…"

"We have a common goal, that's all that matters." Zoro stated, "Let's get moving. The sooner we stand here, the sooner more Marines will show up." "Right." Kirito responded, not sure how the Marines would treat him and his friends, and not intending to find out. With that, the pirates and heroes banded together, and raced onwards due east, where their next destination was; Alubarna.

Several waves of Heartless got in their path, but it was nothing that the heroes, Luffy, Zoro and Sanji couldn't handle. Nami and Ussop, as the crew found out, were more cowardly than the rest. Vivi just stood back while the boys took care of the battle.

Kirito wasn't as bothered by that. He was too focused on the fact that Zoro was able to use three-sword style, and he did it so successfully. Kirito did recall that he once tried it himself, but he felt like his teeth would fall out when carrying his third one. The only time that he had no trouble with carrying a sword in his teeth was when he was in his wildcat form in Simba's world.

After several battles, the team made it to the outer edge of the city, facing the vast desert before them. "How long will it take us to get there?" Yui asked. "Too long." Vivi replied despairingly, "We need to get there fast, or we'll never make it in time."

"There's gotta be a way to cross it in time." Nami stated, turning to Sanji, "By the way, you told me to put on some of that perfume before. It better be for a good reason." "No worries, my sweet." Sanji replied, "It wasn't just for my pleasure, it was also for something else." The team wondered what it was.

Suddenly, the team felt the ground rumbling. They looked onwards to see something large and red coming their way, leaving a massive dust trail behind. As it came closer, they saw, to everyone's astonishment, a massive looking crab running sideways towards them, with one large pincer and one small one, and it had a devious grin on its' face. On its' mossy head was Chopper, and a camel the heroes didn't recognize.

Donald cried in surprised. "What is that?" Sora gasped. "GAH! A CRAB!" cried Ussop, his eyes bulging like the crab's eyes. "Chopper!" cheered Nami. "I've never seen a crab this big before!" Yui exclaimed. "That's a moving crab!" gasped Vivi. "Nummy!" said a drooling Luffy.

The crab came to a standstill before them, it's sly grin beaming as it looked down upon them. "All aboard!" cried Chopper. "I bet this thing's delicious!" shouted Luffy. "It's not for food!" Kirito barked at Luffy. "Is it just me, or does its' face seem shady." Nami asked suspiciously. "Who cares. At least we have a ride." Sanji replied.

"This is one of Eyelash's friends." Chopper explained, pointing to the camel, "Eyelash has a lot of friends in this area." "With this, we should get to Alubarna no problem, right?" Sora asked Vivi, who nodded in response. "He's really nice, but kinda perverted." Chopper added. "I'm not so sure about this." said a hesitant Asuna, seeing the crab dart its' eyes to her.

Suddenly, Sora detected something. A golden hook with a trail of sand following it was going towards Vivi. Sora got in front and blocked the attack, repelling the hook. Vivi was shocked to see the surprise attack. Everyone turned to see where it came from, and saw Crocodile, retracting his hook back to his body, and Mrs. All-Sunday standing right next to him.

"It's you!" Sora gasped as Kirito, Asuna and Luffy raced to his side. "Crocodile!" snarled Luffy. "And Mrs. All-Sunday." Asuna added, frowning at the woman. "You've got a lot of guts trying to get in my way." Crocodile told them, "But guts will only get you so far."

Luffy turned to the others. "You guys go on ahead. Don't worry about me." he told them. "But Luffy…" Vivi stated. "Don't worry. We'll be with him." Kirito assured her as Donald, Goofy and Yui joined the other four's side, "We'll make sure Luffy is safe."

Vivi looked desperately at the group, then Nami grabbed her hand. "C'mon! We need to get you to Alubarna!" she told her, tugging her along to one of the crab's claws. The crab lifted its' claw, and the pirates got on top with Vivi, leaving Luffy with the rest of the team on the ground.

"You have to promise me you'll get Vivi to her home safe and sound, okay?!" Luffy told them. Everyone looked at Luffy with either discourage or fright. "That idiot…" growled Zoro. "Just get moving already!" Asuna shouted angrily. Chopper hesitated for a second, then he snapped the reigns tied on the crab's body. The crab started to move, racing along the desert towards Alubarna, with Vivi and Ussop crying out for Luffy's safety.

"Good luck, you guys." said Luffy, then he turned to the others, "Why didn't you go along with them?" "Because our hearts said so, that's why." Sora responded, as everyone brandished their weapons. Luffy looked at them for a second, then said, "Well, if that's what you want, then lets kick Crocodile's ass together!" "Right!" shouted the team.

"Luffy!" shouted Vivi's voice from a distance, "Listen, we'll be waiting for you! We'll be in Alubarna!" Luffy turned to his distant companions. "YEAAAAAH!" he yelled in response, raising his fist into the air. The crab continued its' path until it disappeared from view.

"Looks like princess Vivi got away from us after all." Mrs. All-Sunday pointed out. "I see you Keyblade wielders are just as troublesome as what I heard." Crocodile stated, getting the team's attention. "And I can see you've been well informed." Kirito replied, not hesitating in his stance, "Tell me, who told you this?" "What does it matter. You'll be dead before I'm through with you." Crocodile replied calmly, "Same goes for those foolish pirates and that princess. My agents should be gathered in Alubarna as well speak." Crocodile replied calmly.

"Not if I have to say anything about it!" Luffy growled, raising his fist, "_Gum-Gum Pistol!_" He shot a fist out at Crocodile's gut. The attack went right through Crocodile, turning the part Luffy punched into sand. "It went straight through!" gasped Asuna. They watched as the hole in Crocodile's body was filled with sand, returning it back to normal.

"So this is his Devil Fruit, huh?" Sora snarled. "I see you are familiar with these powers." Crocodile snickered, raising his hand and producing a small dust devil in it, "This is the power of the Sand-Sand Fruit. Want to become a mummy?" Donald and Goofy shuddered at the man's powers. "Yeah, get real!" barked Kirito, "You may be sand now. But by the time I'm through with you, you'll be nothing but dust!"

"You idealists are nothing but fools." Crocodile stated, "I don't see things like you do. To me, it wouldn't matter if I shoot every bleeding heart that comes in my way." "Which makes you the biggest fool here." said a cocky Luffy, cracking his knuckles. Kirito, Asuna and Sora all smirked at Luffy's statement. Crocodile got so pissed, he bit through the cigar he had on him. Mrs. All-Sunday chuckled a bit.

"You think this is funny?" snarled Crocodile, "Perhaps you want to die as well, Nico Robin." _Nico Robin?_ thought Asuna. "If you want to try, then be my guest." Mrs. All-Sunday responded, walking away, "And didn't I tell you not to call me by that name. I'll be off in Alubarna. See you there." She walked into town, and disappeared. "Wait!" shouted Sora, his hand outstretched, but she was gone.

"Damn, woman. I'll never figure her out." Crocodile responded, looking from where she left to the fighters before him. Luffy was in position, ready to fight Crocodile. "I don't have time to fight with idealists such as yourself." said Crocodile, and his body started to emanate a dark aura, "Perhaps it's about time I introduce you to my latest power!" "What's he doing?" Luffy asked. "This is bad…" Yui muttered, "He has the ability to control the Heartless!"

A sandpit appeared before the group, and out of it came a large Heartless. It was massive, and it looked mechanical. Its' body was white, black and gold. It was egg-shaped, comprised of several rotating rings, and with multiple pillars on each ring, making them more gear-like than anything. Its' head was large, with the traditional yellow eyes, jagged mouth and symbol on its' head. along with two small horns and two mandibles on each side of its' head.

"What is that?!" gasped Asuna. "An Antlion Heartless!" Yui analyzed with her scanner. "Awesoooome!" said an amazed Luffy. "How is any of this awesome!" barked Kirito, starting to get annoyed with the pirate captain's attitude.

"I'll just let my pet deal with you." Crocodile stated, "You go on and have fun with it. I have some plans to take care of." Crocodile's body started to turn into sand, disappearing from top to bottom. "Come back here, you Croc-bastard!" shouted Luffy, racing around the Antlion to Crocodile. He made a running leap, but Crocodile already disappeared, and Luffy fell into the sand.

* * *

**Chapter 4: Duel with the Antlion**

"He got away!" Donald shouted. "We have bigger problems here." Kirito told the team as the Heartless roared at them, "If this thing targets the town, it will be nothing but ruins!" The team prepared himself as Luffy got to his feet on the other side. "You damn monster. You stopped me from fighting Crocodile! I'm gonna beat your ass!" Luffy shouted, and he ran into the fight.

The team charged in on the other side, with Donald and Asuna firing Blizzard spells. Luffy fired a Gum-Gum Pistol at it. The Antlion retaliated by creating a sand wave from both sides, reflecting the magic and fist, and blasting Kirito, Sora, Goofy and Yui away from it.

Kirito and Sora flipped in the air and landed neatly on their feet. "Nice try, but it's gonna take more than that to stop…" Sora started, but they saw the Heartless preparing to move towards the town, "…Hey, don't go there!" Sora raced into the path of the Antlion, and started slashing at it rapidly. "Back. You. Go. You. Monster!" Sora shouted, swinging with every word. The Heartless didn't flinch from his attack, but lunged at Sora, sending him flying.

Luffy jumped high above the Antlion until he was right on top of it. "You won't get away! Now _Gum-Gum…Stamp!_" he shouted, stretching his leg straight up, and sending it crashing on top of the Heartless. The attack caused it to roar in fury. It spun its' rings faster, creating a whirlwind shield that caused Luffy to spin high in the air, yelling out of dizziness. He crashed into the ground some distance away, but got to his feet again. "Damn! This thing is tough!" he barked, brushing the sand off of his pants.

"You won't beat us that easily!" Asuna shouted, racing in and placing a close-range Blizzard spell onto the Heartless. She backed away as Kirito ran in, placing in a few slashes onto it himself. The monster turned to the two, and started to charge at them. The two led it away from Rainbase, and gave the others a chance to strike at it. Sora and Yui came in with a series of close ranged attacks. Goofy threw his shield at the opponent while Donald used Thunder spell, only to find it inefficient.

"Lightning, fire and wind attacks aren't gonna do much against it, guys!" Yui told the group, "It's an earth element Heartless. It needs to be taken down with elements weak to that." "Like ice and water spells." Asuna stated, realizing what would work. She turned to the Heartless, and sent a Water spell at it, and the gush of water caused some major damage to it.

Kirito heard Luffy's war cry, and saw him raced behind the Antlion. He dashed to one side, and stopped right in front of it. "_Gum-Gum…Gatling!_" Luffy shouted, pummeling the Heartless with a barrage of punches. He then stopped the attack and stretched both hands behind him. "And _Gum-Gum…_" he started, then shot both palms forward, "_…Bazooka!_"

The attack not only damaged it, it sent the Antlion flying…straight back to the edge of Rainbase again. Luffy retracted his hands as the others stared open mouthed at what he did. "And that's not all I've got for you, you fat snake!" panted Luffy.

"What the hell?!" barked Kirito and Sora, slamming their fists onto Luffy. "What?" he asked, looking innocently at the two. "We're trying to keep it AWAY from the town!" Sora shouted to him. "Oh. Then why didn't you say so?" Luffy asked. "I THOUGHT IT WAS OBVIOUS!" shouted Kirito, "DO YOU WANT PEOPLE TO DIE?!" "Only Crocodile." Luffy replied plainly, "That jerk's gonna pay for messing with Vivi's homeland." He raced back at the Heartless, joining Asuna and the others.

"If he cares so much, then stop sending the enemies to the towns!" Kirito stated, shaking his head. "At least he cares a lot for his friends." Sora pointed out, and he joined in the fray. Kirito paused to see the truth in Sora's statement, then joined into the battle as well.

The team continued to strike at the Antlion, who begun to retaliate at full strength now. Not only was he sending sand waves and whirlwinds, but now also cube-shaped bombs and lasers from its' mouth. The laser did make Luffy go gaga a bit, but Donald whacked his staff on Luffy's head, bringing him back to reality again.

They managed to keep it away from Rainbase, but now it started to do something that was absolutely insane; it was creating quicksand pits. It made a couple of them with its' powers, and while Sora, Asuna and Yui fell to one pit, Kirito and Luffy fell in the other, leaving Donald and Goofy to deal with the Antlion on their own for the time being.

"Damn it!" shouted Luffy, attempting to run up and out of the pit, "I'm not gonna let this fat snake keep me in here!" "I've never sunk in quicksand before, and I don't wanna know how it feels!" shouted Kirito, struggling to keep out of the center of the pit.

"Kirito!" shouted Luffy, stretching his hand out to him. Kirito grabbed Luffy's hand, and Luffy unceremoniously tossed Kirito out of the pit, leading him to safety. Kirito fell on his back, but he flipped up again and ran to the edge of the pit. "Luffy!" he shouted. "Don't worry!" Luffy replied, stretching his arms out behind him, "_Gum-Gum…Bazooka!_" He struck the ground beneath him, and the force caused him to be rocketed into the air.

Kirito was amazed at how Luffy pulled off such a smart move. In the air, Luffy saw Sora, Asuna and Yui in the other pit, their bodies halfway into the sand. "Hold on!" he shouted, stretching his arm out to them. Like a lasso, he wrapped his arm around the three of them, pulling them together and bringing them out of the pit. Unfortunately, he sent them flying high in the air, sending them crashing into the ground aways from them.

Luffy landed next to Kirito, who was hoping the three were alright. Luffy grinned at a successful rescue. Meanwhile, Sora crashed into the sand head-first, Asuna was flipped upside-down in a crooked form, and Yui was sprawled on the ground. "I'm gonna kill that guy!" Asuna sneered. "He's so careless about what he does with people." Yui moaned, getting to her knees. "A leas he shade us fro te pt _(at least he saved us from the pit)_" said a muffled Sora, "Nah cin sovody elp me?! _(Now can somebody help me?!)_"

Kirito watched as Asuna and Yui got up to help Sora out, and sighed that they were okay. However, Donald and Goofy were sent flying over him and Luffy, struck by bombs from the Heartless. Luffy and Kirito turned to see the monster on a rampage, digging its' way towards them. "I've had enough of this freakin' Antlion!" growled Kirito. "I agree. Let's beat it up until it can't take anymore!" shouted Luffy. Luffy and Kirito joined forces, and begun their Limit Break, 'Rubber Wonder'.

Luffy puffed his body up like a balloon, and Kirito knocked him into the air. He jumped up after him, his Keyblade at the ready. The two begun to perform two sets of attacks. 'Curve Balloon' was when Kirito threw Luffy like a pitcher throwing a curveball, homing him at the opponent. 'Spike Balloon' was when Kirito smacked Luffy with his Keyblade, hurling him down to the ground to create a shockwave on impact. The two begun to do these two attacks one after another, damaging the Antlion.

The final attack was 'Gum-Gum Storm', in which Kirito and Luffy landed onto the ground together, sending a shockwave that tossed the Heartless upwards. Luffy twisted his puffed up body, then blew all the air out of him, sending him spinning at the Heartless. He shouted, "_Gum-Gum…Storm!_", and begun to send a storm of gatling fists up at the Heartless, damaging it immensely and sending it even higher. Luffy landed onto the ground, punching the air in victory as Kirito saddled his Keyblade onto his shoulder.

"Way to go, you two!" cheered Sora, brushing the sand out of his hair. Everyone watched the Heartless's ascend, then it reached the peak of the ark, and started to fall back down to earth. Kirito realized it was coming towards their group. Kirito rushed out of the way, but Luffy was too dumbstruck to think about moving. "Luffy, look out!" Goofy shouted as Kirito turned to see he hadn't moved.

Luffy realized, too late, that it would crash on top of him. Luffy tried to run away, but ended up in the impact. Both he and the Heartless tumbled into one of the quicksand pits, and with Luffy underneath the Heartless, it was impossible for him to escape the sinking. "Luffy!" shouted the group.

The Antlion started to sparkle a bit as the crystalized heart came out of it, and both the heart and Heartless disappeared in a sparkle of lights. However, it pushed Luffy beneath the sand, and the team couldn't see him.

"What happened?!" gasped Donald as the team reached the edge of the pit. "The Heartless pushed him in!" cried Yui, "We need to get him out!" "With what?" Sora asked, "We can't go in there ourselves. We'll end up trapped in there as well."

"We need to get to the town and find some rope." Asuna suggested, "We can tie one of us to it, and the others pull him out." "Then we need to hurry!" shouted Kirito, "Who knows how long he can stay down there." "Then some of us should stay here and keep an eye out for Luffy." Yui suggested, "Sora, mama, let's stay here. Donald, Goofy and papa can take care of the rope." "Good idea." Kirito responded as Goofy and Donald raced back into town, "We'll get the rope as soon as possible." With that, Kirito raced off, leaving the three at the edge of the quicksand pit.

For a few minutes, there was silence. During their battle, night had begun to fall. The sky was littered with stars. If they weren't so worried about the pirate captain, they would be gazing up at the stars. They also noticed how cold it got. The weather in the desert certainly was difficult to deal with.

After ten minutes, Sora started. "You think he's still okay down there?" he asked. "I'm not sure." Asuna replied, "Unless Luffy is good at holding his breath, he's more than likely…" The trio fell into silence once more, hoping beyond hope that the worst hasn't happened yet. "Papa and the others should be back here with the rope soon." Yui stated sternly, "We just have to believe that he'll survive."

Suddenly, movement could be seen in the pit, quickly drawing their attention. They saw as the center pile of sand started to break a bit and, to everyone's surprise, saw Luffy's head pop out. His hat was not on his head. "Luffy!" shouted the trio happily. Luffy tried to pull the rest of his body out, but it was useless. Then he inhaled deeply, and shouted out one word at the top of his voice.

"MEEEEEEAAAAAAT!" boomed Luffy's voice, causing the three to fall back from the shout. "Did he say meat?" Sora asked confused. "He's stuck in sand, and the first thing he thinks is food…" Asuna stated. "He is so simple-minded." Yui added.

Luffy turned his head to where the other three are at. "Guys! Help me out here!" Luffy shouted, struggling to move the rest of his body out of the quicksand. "We're getting some rope to pull you out!" Sora shouted down to him.

"In the meantime, don't struggle!" Asuna called out to him, "You'll only get yourself…" But the results of Luffy's struggling started to take form. The quicksand started to move all around him, and his head was once again getting sucked into the sand. "Luffy!" shouted the trio, but it was too late. The sand covered his head once more, submerging him into the sand.

The trio looked desperately down at where he was at. "Luffy!" shouted Sora. "Hang in there!" Yui cried. "We're gonna help you out soon!" shouted Asuna. There was no reply from the sand. The trio looked at one another, wondering if there was anything they could do.

Suddenly, footsteps could be heard from behind them. They turned, hoping to see Kirito, Donald and Goofy. However, they were surprised to see none other than Mrs. All-Sunday walk up to the group. "It's you!" barked Sora, getting to his feet and whipping out his Shining Wing Keyblade. "What do you want?" Asuna asked, frowning at the woman before them.

Mrs. All-Sunday looked to them, then at the Keyblade Sora held. "It looks like you made quick work with that Heartless thanks to the Keyblade." she stated, walking up to the edge of the pit. She waved her hand, and a few flower petals appeared as she did so. The trio wondered what she was doing until they heard something in the pit. They turned to see multiple hands appear out of the sand, lifting Luffy up. They wondered where the hands came from.

With one heave, the hands tossed Luffy out of the pit and onto the ground next to them. The three were stunned at what just happened. She walked up between them and Luffy, who was too tired to get up. Apparently, the Heartless did damage him so much, that he was bleeding in different parts. He coughed up some sand he swallowed. "Luffy…" Yui sighed in relief.

Asuna was perplexed, looking from Luffy to Mrs. All-Sunday. "Why did you help him?" Asuna asked. "Just curious." she replied, looking down at Luffy, "Why do you fight? Those with the name of D?" "D?" Sora repeated, confused, "You mean Sora's middle name?"

"Why is it important to you?" Asuna asked. "You wouldn't understand." Mrs. All-Sunday replied, "After all, you aren't even of this world. And those chosen by the Keyblade aren't suppose to meddle with other worlds, now should they?" Asuna, Sora and Yui were surprised.

"How do you know about that?" Sora asked, lowering his defenses. "I've read up on the Keyblade in some ancient text long ago." Mrs. All-Sunday answered, and she waved her hand once more. To Sora's, and the other two's, surprise, a hand and arm sprouted from Sora's arm, grabbing his Keyblade and tossing it to Mrs. All-Sunday.

"Wah!" exclaimed Sora, seeing how easily he was disarmed. "A Devil Fruit?" Asuna asked. "The Flower-Flower Fruit." Mrs. All-Sunday replied, "I can sprout my body parts anywhere in my sight." From out of the sand, another one of her arms appeared, and with it came Luffy's straw hat. It tossed it over to Mrs. All-Sunday's other hand, to which she dropped it onto Luffy's chest.

She held Sora's Keyblade up high. "Amazing." she gasped, "The weapon that can undo any lock. A weapon that can link the worlds to one another. And the one that the Heartless fear the most of all." The Keyblade vanished from Mrs. All-Sunday's grip and returned to Sora's hand. "And it can only be used by the chosen wielders." she added, looking to Sora and Asuna, then down a bit, "How unfortunate…" Was it her imagination, or did Asuna detect a hint of disparity in her tone?

"Guys! We're back!" shouted Kirito's voice. "And we got some help!" Goofy's voice added. The group turned to see Kirito, Goofy, Donald and someone else rush their way. The man with them was tall, sort of pale, and purple lines underneath his eyes, running down his face. He wore a long white robe with brown star-like motifs on it and a hat, along with orange-beaded necklace and a sword on his right hip.

Kirito was carrying a leather rope with him, but he stopped when he noticed Mrs. All-Sunday, standing in between Sora and the girls, and finally he noticed Luffy on the ground. "Luffy!" Kirito gasped, shocked as to how he came out of the sand. Donald and Goofy also stopped, along with the mysterious man, who saw Mrs. All-Sunday and frowned.

"It's you again!" he growled, taking his sheathed sword and gripping the handle, ready to strike. "My…awake already?" Mrs. All-Sunday asked, changing the tone in her voice. "You may have beaten me before, but after studying your ability, the result won't be the same like last time!" the man snarled. "Don't overexert yourself." Mrs. All-Sunday warned him, walking away from the group, towards a small yellow banana-gator that had a domed roof and seat like a race car. The man stumbled a bit. Apparently, he was injured, and Kirito deduced that it came from the woman.

"You're just in time. These people could use your help." she told the man, "If it hadn't been for their courage and determination, who know if your princess would have made it back alive at all. She's on her way to Alubarna as we speak, though it is such a long distance away, and who knows what might happen. Guess the situation is what it is." She got into the seat on the banana-gator, and with a blast of speed, the two disappeared from sight, leaving the group to see the dust trail the reptile left behind.

"Just who is that woman?" Kirito asked. "She was so interested in the Keyblade." Yui pointed out, "I wonder why she cared for it so much?" Asuna was silent all this time. It was the weirdest feeling. Those words she said before; _"How unfortunate…". _For some strange reason, the sad tone in her voice made Asuna feel sympathetic towards her. She was definitely a strange woman.

* * *

**Chapter 5: Race to Alubarna**

The man collapsed to his knees, his sword dropped to the ground. "Hey, are you alright?" Goofy asked. "I'm fine." the man replied, "I'm just fortunate that Princess Vivi is safe." He looked over to Luffy. "Your friend there needs some medical attention. I should go get a doctor." "Wait, who is he?" Sora asked Kirito. "His name's Pell." Kirito replied, "He's a guard of Alabasta Kingdom, and a guardian to Vivi."

"Need meat…" Luffy moaned. "Meat?" Kirito asked. "He wants food." Asuna sighed. "Luffy, you're covered in wounds." Kirito pointed out, "Surely food is far from your mind…" Luffy's arm stretched out, grabbing the robe Kirito was wearing. Pell was startled at Luffy's powers. "Will you let go?!" asked Kirito, trying to shake off Luffy's grip.

"That damn Crocodile's gonna pay for this!" Luffy growled, "He insulted Vivi. He took her land away from her. I won't let him get away!" Kirito stopped struggling to look at Luffy. As battered up as he was, he was still thinking about helping his friends and stopping Crocodile. Finally, Kirito smirked. "You're right. That guy's got to go down."

"He has control of all the Heartless." Asuna pointed out. "Which means he's our main target as well!" Sora stated. "We'll stop him!" squawked Donald. "We won't back away from this!" Goofy added. "Let's take him out together!" Yui declared. "Yeah!" cheered the team, Luffy somewhat weakly. _Just who are these people?_ Pell thought to himself.

"First things first." Asuna started as he and Sora walked up to Luffy. They raised their Keyblades. "_Heal!_" they shouted, and their Cure magic healed up Luffy's wounds. This surprised Pell even further. "What kind of powers do you have?" Pell asked. "Stuff you wouldn't believe." Kirito replied to him, "That's how Donald and I healed most of your wounds, right?" Pell did recall the two using the same magic to heal him.

Although he was healed, Luffy stomach was growling loudly. "We need to find some food for Luffy so he can regain his strength." Sora told the group, "Is there any place we can go to get him some food?" "I know of a restaurant." Pell replied, "We can take him there." "Lead the way, Pell." Kirito stated, grabbing Luffy and carrying him on his back. The team walked back into Rainbase, where the streets were now quiet.

The heroes followed Pell to a late night restaurant, where he asked the cook to make some food for these people. However, everyone didn't realize just how much Luffy could eat. If he wanted to, he could've eaten up the entire town. It was lucky that the others had anything at all. "Luffy, that was mine!" Sora barked at him as Luffy's hand snatched away some food from Sora's plate. "Hey!" squawked Donald as Luffy took his food. Kirito's quick reaction skills made him the only one able to keep his food.

After several dozen plates, Luffy shouted, "All right! I'm ready for anything now! Time to go and kick Crocodile's ass!" "'Bout dang time." Kirito sighed, "We spent too much time here. We need to catch up with the others again." "We won't make it to Alubarna in time." Pell told them, "All we can do is hope that Princess Vivi made it in time to stop the rebel army."

"But the main problem is Baroque Works." Asuna stated, "Crocodile said that he set up his agents over there. And if there are tons of them, Vivi's gonna have a hard time convincing either army to stop fighting with them around." "That doesn't matter." Luffy replied, "Vivi will stop the fighting, I'm sure of it. And my crew members will definitely help her all the way, making sure she is safe!" The team could see how much faith Luffy had in his pirate crew.

"But what about Crocodile?" Goofy asked. "And that Mrs. All-Sunday?" Donald added. "Mrs. All-Sunday isn't as big as a threat." Asuna told them, "She has been helping both sides for some reason. Plus, she doesn't look like she will harm us too much. Crocodile is a different story." "With that Sand-Sand Fruit of his, it's gonna be tough to lay a finger on him." Yui pointed out.

"Oh, don't worry. I already figured that out." Luffy snickered. The team looked to him surprised. "Okay, what?" Sora asked him. "Remember how that fat snake hated water? Well, why don't we just sprinkle some water on Crocodile?" Luffy asked with a grin. At first, the team thought it was just another one of his stupid plans. Then Kirito gasped. "Of course… That would work! Water can solidify sand!"

"A letter from Vivi told me that Crocodile and Baroque Works was the one who took all the rain from this land." Pell recalled. "There's a good reason for that." Asuna responded, "It will stir up the people's desperation AND take care of Crocodile's main weakness!" "In that case, we need to douse him with water in order to beat him!" Yui exclaimed.

Luffy rushed over to the counter to the clerk. "Hey you! Give me a barrel of water. The biggest barrel you got!" "We now have Crocodile's weakness down." Kirito said confidently. "But Asuna is the only one who can use Water magic." Goofy pointed out. "Will it be good enough?" Donald asked.

"Here, maybe this will help." Pell stated, pulling something out of his pocket, "I don't know what it is, but I get the feeling it might help." It was a magic orb. "A Water Element!" Yui exclaimed, "This will definitely work!" The orb floated upwards and in front of Asuna. "With this, your Water magic will be upgraded to Watera." Yui added as the orb was absorbed by Asuna. She curled her fist as she felt her new attack. "Then we're ready for anything!"

Luffy came back to the group again, carrying a large barrel full of water, with a large hose attached to it. "This should be enough for me!" Luffy stated, slamming the barrel onto the table. "Now all that is left is to go to Alubarna!" Kirito declared. "But how will we get there?" Donald asked. "Alubarna is a several days journey on foot." Pell stated, "Not to mention there's a river that you have to cross…" "Then, we won't make it in time!" Sora gasped. "…However, I can get most of you there." Pell stated. The others looked at him, confused.

Back at the edge of the desert, Pell demonstrated his powers. Before their eyes, Pell transformed into a large bird. "Oh, wow!" Yui gasped. "You have Devil Fruit powers as well!" Asuna realized. "He's a bird-guy!" Luffy shouted happily. "The Bird-Bird Fruit: Model Falcon." Pell explained, "The trouble is that I can't carry all of you. Maybe four at most." "That's not good." Sora moaned, "If four of us will go, how will the rest of us go?"

"Look over there!" said Goofy, pointing towards something. Some distance away from them, the team noticed the same golden banana-gator that Mrs. All-Sunday used to cross the desert. It was parked nearly in the same spot as before. "Isn't that Mrs. All-Sunday's?" Donald asked.

"That banana is a lot smaller than the ones before." Luffy pointed out. "I told you; it's not a banana!" Kirito barked at him. "Did she come back?" Asuna asked. "Dunno." Sora replied, staring at it for a second, then grinning, "But it looks like we can use it to cross the desert!"

"Then let's split into different groups." Kirito told the team, "Sora, Yui and I will take that banana-gator for a spin. The rest of you go with Pell, okay?" "I'll be able to fly straight into the palace of Alubarna." Pell pointed out, "Once you three make it to the capital, run towards the palace." "Right!" replied the trio.

"All right, everyone! Let's go kick Crocodile's sandy ass, and save Vivi!" shouted Luffy. "Yeah!" cheered the rest of the group. Luffy tied the barrel of water onto his back using the rope Kirito had. With that, he, Asuna, Donald and Goofy got onto Pell's back while Kirito, Sora and Yui filled themselves into the seat of the golden banana-gator. With both parties set, they took off both across the desert.

It took several hours to get there. Getting across both the desert and river was a bit of a trip. The sun was already rising when they crossed the river, and by the time they saw the city of Alubarna, the sun had risen high into the morning sky.

On the ground, the trio in the speedy reptile saw the dust cloud coming from the capital, along with the sounds of a war going on. "We're too late!" gasped Yui. "Vivi didn't stop the battle from happening!" Kirito stated. Sora gritted his teeth in anger. "We got to stop it somehow!" he demanded, "If we don't, both Crocodile and the Heartless will win!" The other two nodded in agreement.

The banana-gator reached the edge of the steps into the capital, and it came to a stop. The trio got off and raced up the stairs, towards the middle of the battle that was at the top. "We gotta knocked them down without killing them!" Kirito told the group. "Right!" the other two responded.

The soldiers of both the rebel army and the Alubarna army were fighting each other, with rage in their eyes. Kirito did his best with knocking out both enemies with is Keyblade without damaging them too much. Sora used his Thunder magic to paralyze them. Yui unleashed her Whirlwind to knock the armies off their feet, where they crashed to the ground unconscious. The trio continued onward, racing towards the palace, where the others in the air were getting close to.

* * *

**Chapter 6: Sand Croc vs. Water Luffy**

Up in the sky, Pell and the others could see the tragedy below them, hear the sounds of battle going on down there, and the dust devil that surrounded the central square. "This is awful!" gasped Asuna, putting her hand to her mouth. "It's absolute chaos!" Donald squawked. Goofy moaned sadly as he looked down below. "Once you guys defeat Crocodile, we shall do our best to stop both armies from fighting." Pell told everyone. Luffy remained quiet, determinately scanning the area for Crocodile.

"Look over there!" Goofy cried, pointing towards the palace. On the palace wall, Crocodile was holding Vivi up by the throat, dangling her over the edge, down where all the fighting took place. "Vivi!" shouted Asuna. "Princess!" Pell shouted. They watched as Vivi struggled while Crocodile taunted at her. Afterwards, Crocodile turned his hand into sand, and Vivi started to fall down to the square below, leaving Crocodile standing there, laughing. "Get us down there!" Asuna told Pell.

The team dived down to see that Crocodile stopped laughing at the sight of them. "It can't be…" Crocodile gasped. "CROCODILE!" shouted Luffy. "This is our stop!" Asuna told them, "Go grab Vivi!" Asuna, Donald and Goofy jumped off Pell's back as Luffy and Pell dived towards Vivi, landing into the palace grounds.

"Luffy!" cried a smiling Vivi. "I thought my Heartless got rid of them!" growled Crocodile. Asuna, Donald and Goofy looked down to see Pell fall beneath Vivi, and Luffy scooped her into his arms as they pulled out of the dive. "They got her!" cheered Asuna. "Hooray!" whooped Donald and Goofy together. Crocodile sneered at the sight he had just witnessed.

Asuna and the others turned to see the scene before them. The place looked like it could've been a garden of some sort. Five bodies were sprawled all over the place. Four looked like Egyptian soldiers, while another looked like he was half man, half dog. Mrs. All-Sunday stood near the entrance to the interior of the palace, and a man with black hair, wearing a purple robe nailed to the wall by his arms. That man was Cobra, Vivi's father. Finally, the team turned to Crocodile, who looked back at them in a calm rage.

"You really don't know your place here, do you?" he asked them. "All we know is that you are the enemy, and that we have to defeat you." Asuna stated as the trio pulled out their weapons. Crocodile started glowing a dark aura. "So you want to defeat me?" he repeated, "You're several years too early to fight me, whether if your from a different world or not. These pawns should do instead."

Several Heartless started to appear in between Crocodile and the crew. The four soldiers on the ground suddenly disappeared from view, turning into four Fat Bandits. Cobra eyes bulged in shock at his loyal soldiers turning into dark beasts. "What did he do to them?" he muttered. "I simply gave those fools a purpose." Crocodile chuckled, "If they want to be good for something, they can start by defeating these three."

"Bastard!" Asuna shouted angrily, "How dare you do something like this to them!" She lead the other two into battle with the Heartless, taking them out one by one. The four Fat Bandits were a problem, what with their bulky stature and fire breathing. Asuna's rage, however, along with her magic skills was enough to overwhelm them. It took a couple minutes, but they finished off all the Heartless.

At this point, Luffy, Vivi and Pell were on the ground in the square. Luffy was spinning his arms around to loosen them, prepared to go up to where Crocodile was at. "I at a lot of meat, so I'm ready to face him!" He stated out loud, bringing his rotating arms to a halt and looking at the stationary Crocodile, "I won't…lose to you."

"Luffy! He's alive!" cried Chopper, "And Vivi's here, too!" Everyone turned to see Chopper, Sanji, Eyelash, and a bandaged up Ussop, who looked like a mummy, race up to the group, followed by Nami, who was in a belly dancer outfit, and Zoro, who was cut badly. "See? I told you he was okay!" Ussop declared. "Yeah right. You kept saying he was dead before." Sanji recalled as he and Eyelash eyed him.

"Why are you guys down here? And where're those other guys?" Nami demanded, leaning on a metal staff, displaying her injured foot. "Oh, come on! You're standing up just fine!" Zoro barked at her, having to carry her all the way over to their position. "Everyone's alive…" Vivi muttered softly, "They're still okay."

"Kirito, Sora and Yui are running to the palace as we speak." Pell explained to them, "As for Asuna, Donald and Goofy…" he drew their attention upwards, "They're fighting up there." "Yeah, and I'll be joining them soon enough!" declared Luffy, stretching his arms out and grabbing the top of the wall.

He paused for a second, then continued, "This time, I'll fight him for sure. He won't escape from me again. I'm gonna put an end to this…for good!" "Yeah!" cheered Ussop and Chopper as the team smiled at him, with a conveniently placed explosion coming from behind them to add a dramatic flare. "Thank you." Vivi thanked the group, wiping the tears from her eyes, "I'm so glad all of you are still with me."

Luffy smirked at her, then determinately looked up to Crocodile's position. "_Gum-Gum…Rocket!_" he shouted, shooting himself like a slingshot up to the top of the palace. He made it to the top, and everyone in the garden looked at him as he reached his peak, bearing down onto Crocodile.

"I've got you now, Crocodile!" shouted Luffy, diving at him. "It doesn't matter how many times you swing at me, you won't be able to hit me." he warned him. Luffy ignored these words as he pumped up his arm muscles, ready to strike. Asuna, Donald and Goofy watched as Crocodile started to turn into sand again. Luffy raised his fist, which was drenched in water, and dealt him a punch. Not only did it make contact with Crocodile, it sent him crashing to the ground, surprising Cobra.

_(Cue 'Gomu Gomu No Bazooka' One Piece OST)_

"It worked!" cheered Donald. "Water stopped him from turning into sand!" Asuna stated as Luffy skidded to a halt next to them, "Luffy, your plan actually worked!" "He hit Crocodile." Cobra gasped. Mrs. All-Sunday smiled at what just happened.

Luffy turned as Crocodile, his mouth bleeding a bit, stood up on his feet."Looks like it worked after all." Luffy confirmed, taking the hose and drenching his arms with water again, "Our real fight is starting now!"

Crocodile chuckled as the team readied themselves for fighting. "Just because you know how to hit me doesn't mean you can beat me." he told them, "You fools don't have the experience to beat me. I am one of the seven Warlords of the sea. You can try…" he started producing a sandstorm around him, "…but it will all become hopeless in the end." The fight between the group had begun.

"_Desert Spada!_" shouted Crocodile, turning his hand into a sandy blade and thrusting it into the ground. The attack shot itself straight at the group, who dodged to the sides before it made contact with them.

Asuna raced at him, her Keyblade ready. "He's not the only one with water here!" Asuna warned him, pointing her Keyblade at Crocodile, "_Watera!_" A blast of water came from her Keyblade, damaging Crocodile and drenching him. She then came in with a series of jabs at Crocodile, followed by Donald and Goofy, who whacked him with their weapons.

As Donald and Goofy backed off, Crocodile grabbed Asuna's arm. "I won't let you go so easily." he warned her. Asuna started to feel something in her arm that wasn't normal. She looked at it, horrified as Crocodile started draining the moisture from her arm, both inside and out, until it was shriveled up.

Luffy came in with a hard kick, sending Crocodile flying away. Asuna grasped her shoulder, crying as her arm was dried up. "Here, drink this!" Luffy told her, shoving the hose to her. He squirted some water into her mouth, restoring her arm back to normal. "Thanks!" gasped Asuna, giving the hose back to Luffy, then growling at Crocodile, "Damn that man. Not only can he turn into sand, but he can absorb the moisture from people's bodies. We gotta be careful of that." "Right." Luffy understood, and the two pursued the battle.

Crocodile was not only good with his sand powers, such as his Desert Spada and sand twisters attacks called Sables, but his hook was a dangerous threat as well. Luffy and Asuna led the other two into battle, using their water to damage him or drench him. Not only that, but ice magic also had an affect on him, giving Donald an edge with ice spells. It was obvious this man had experience in combat, so they had to be careful. Every time he tried drying someone up, one of the others would aid that person, using water to restore them.

About a third way into the fight, Crocodile was on the ground as Luffy raised the barrel to drench him, but Crocodile sent him and the barrel flying with Sables. Luffy made a grab for the barrel so it wouldn't break, landing on the wall. "You can't defeat me, straw hat." Crocodile chuckled, "Not when your life depends on that barrel." "Luffy!" Asuna called out to him.

Luffy smirked. "Okay, then let's try something different." he stated, and everyone watched as he started drinking down the water from the barrel, his rubber body expanding from the water in his belly, like he was a water balloon. Crocodile, Asuna and Cobra all looked shocked at the sight of him. "How about this!" Luffy cried, throwing the empty barrel aside. "This is insane!" Asuna gasped.

The water in Luffy's body jiggled as he stood there. "I'm Water Luffy now!" he declared, burping a bit, then water came out from his body, "OH NO! A LEAK!" "You get a leak of all things?!" barked Asuna through fanged teeth. _He can't be serious, can he?_ Crocodile thought.

The leaking stopped, but water tried to escape from his mouth and nose. Luffy stopped the flow and swallowed it back. "I guess I shouldn't have drunk that much water…" he moaned. Donald and Goofy were rolling on the ground, laughing. Even Mrs. All-Sunday laughed at this. "Luffy, this is embarrassing!" Asuna sighed, putting a hand to her forehead.

"Damn it, stop screwing around!" roared Crocodile, charging at the fat rubber boy. Luffy started using his arms like pumps, bringing water up to his mouth and shooting a ball of water at Crocodile, drenching him. "Who said I was screwing around!" barked Luffy, stretching his arms back as Crocodile watched horrified, "_Gum-Gum…Bazooka!_" He sent his hands slamming to Crocodile, hurling him into a stone gazebo, which crumbled on top of him on impact.

"Wow, that actually worked!" Asuna gasped as Donald and Goofy whooped for joy, "Guess I underestimated Luffy's skills…" A dust cloud formed from the impact as Luffy punched the air while his body jiggled a bit. Cobra was shocked at what happened. Mrs. All-Sunday remained neutral at this. "How was that, Sand Croc?" Luffy asked, rubbing his mouth. "Did we beat him?" Goofy asked. "We'll find out soon." Asuna replied.

The four stood there as the dust continued to cover the broken stone, waiting to see if Crocodile still lived. Finally, Mrs. All-Sunday turned to Cobra. "There's no time for this. We have work to do." she stated, using her powers to pull each nail out of the wall and Cobra's arms, making him fall to the ground. The four heroes turned towards the scene.

"Get up." she ordered him, "You are going to show me to the Poneglyph right now." "What do you plan on doing once you see it?" Cobra asked. Mrs. All-Sunday responded by produced a hand behind Cobra's back, twisting his hands behind his back. "Just stop asking questions. All you have to do is show me." she answered, turning to the group, "Your luck is starting to run out on you. I told you Keyblade wielders not to interfere with the way of the world, and this is the price you'll pay." Asuna was confused at what she meant.

There was an explosion of stone from the fallen structure, and the team turned to see Crocodile get to his feet again. "Get going now, Nico Robin." Crocodile told her, "Unless you want to be dried up with these brats." Cobra was stunned at who he called her. "Nico Robin?" he echoed. Asuna saw the expression on his face. _Again with that name._ she thought to herself, _Is that her real name? She did say that Mrs. All-Sunday was her codename._ "Yes. As you with." the woman responded, picking up Cobra and exiting the place, leaving the four heroes with Crocodile.

Crocodile placed a hand on the ground, which drew everyone's attention. Immediately, all the grass around his palm started to dry up, and the range of it started to spread. Donald hopped into Goofy's arms as the dryness crossed their path. A palm tree next to them shriveled up and disappeared into splinters. "What going on!" gasped Asuna, looking all around. "Everything is dying!" gasped Luffy.

"_Ground Secco!_" shouted Crocodile, and the ground beneath them crumbled and cave in on itself. Asuna collapsed to the ground, clinging onto the earth. Luffy barely stopped himself from falling through a crack by splitting his legs apart. Goofy stumbled backwards and fell on his butt.

Luffy pumped up more water into his mouth, and fired three more shots. Crocodile raised his palm and quickly absorbed all three shots. "_Watera!_" Asuna shouted, firing another gush of water. Crocodile redirected his hand, and quickly absorbed her water attack as well. "Impossible!" she gasped, her weapon arm shaking.

"You thought you could stop my powers with your silly water attacks?" Crocodile growled as Luffy got back to solid ground again, "How very foolish. I can absorb all the liquid from all around here with my right hand. Watch." He placed his hand onto the ground again, and now caused the ground to turn into sand. And not just the ground, but even the stone structures around them. "Everything is just..dying!" Luffy cried. One of Luffy's sandals turned into dust as well, and he started to hop on one foot.

"Everything connected to the ground will instantly dry up. And that includes you four!" shouted Crocodile. "This is bad!" gasped Asuna, seeing the ground around her turn to sand. She, Donald and Goofy ran away from the oncoming sand that crept towards them, leaving Luffy paralyzed in fear. The trio jumped straight over the wall before Crocodile shouted, "_Ground Death!_" A huge storm of sand shot itself all around the area, consuming the whole place. The trio were luckily out of range of the attack. However, they started to fall, their outcries echoed as they fell.

When the dust cleared, the entire garden turned into a desert wasteland. Luffy was holding onto the balcony above the garden, safe from the attack. "This looks bad. He just turned the garden into a desert!" he growled, then noticed that the other three were missing, "Asuna! Ducky! Doggy!" No reply. "Where did they go?" he asked himself.

"Those three went falling to their death." said Crocodile's voice. Luffy looked up to see Crocodile materialize from sand in front of him, "And frankly, I've grown tired of wasting my time with you four." He reached down to grab Luffy's neck, and the rubber boy wondered what was gonna happen next.

A few meters down from the garden wall, Asuna was clinging onto dear life to her Keyblade, which was stabbed into the palace wall. Goofy was holding onto her leg while Donald was holding onto Goofy's. "That was a close one." Asuna sighed, "If I hadn't thought of this, we probably wouldn't be alive right now." Goofy and Donald sighed in relief as well.

"Is Luffy okay?" Donald asked. "I'm sure he's alright." Goofy replied, "Luffy's really strong. He's bound to be okay." From above her, Asuna noticed something fly over the wall and down to the square beneath them. It was Luffy's straw hat.

Her eyes widened in shock, seeing the hat depart, then looked up. "Luffy…" she whispered, then she looked down at the two holding onto her, "Guys, start swinging! We need to get up there and find out what happened to Luffy." The trio begun to swing like a pendulum, with Asuna straining to hold onto her Keyblade. They kept rocking back and forth, their swings getting wider and wider.

Finally, with one final swing, Asuna let go of the Keyblade, and the trio flew high into the air. They grabbed onto the top of the wall in time, and pulled themselves up. Asuna conjured her Keyblade back to their hand, and the trio sighed in relief.

Asuna looked up and gasped. Luffy was on the ground, shriveled up completely. All the moisture had been drained from his body. "Luffy!" shouted the trio, rushing to his side. Asuna reached down to lift up his head, hoping for a sign of life. She could see any. "Don't you dare die on me, you idiot!" said a panicked Asuna, dropping his head and pointing her Keyblade at Luffy's open mouth, "_Watera!_" A gush of water came from her Keyblade, going into Luffy's mouth.

She did this attack for a few seconds, then stopped. The trio waited for a few seconds, then the water restored Luffy's body back to normal, and he sat up. "Ah! That was way too close!" he gasped, breathing in deeply, then saw Asuna and the others next to him, "Hey, you guys are safe!" "I could say the same thing about you." Asuna replied as the trio looked happily at him, "Good thing I gave some water to you."

"You did?" Luffy questioned, "Huh, that's weird. I thought those three water pistols I shot did this." "Water pistols?" Asuna questioned as something started falling from the sky. Three orbs of water fell from the sky, down straight upon Asuna, Donald and Goofy's head, shocking them and drenching them.

There was a moments pause as the three groaned in misery, dripping wet. "Uh…sorry about that." Luffy apologized. "Luffy, if Crocodile doesn't beat you senseless, I will!" Asuna threatened the rubber boy, who cowered at her glowing red eyes.

Donald and Goofy shook off the water and looked around. "Where's Crocodile?" Goofy asked. Luffy suddenly realized he wasn't around. "Oh, that's right! That Croc bastard escaped again!" He got to his feet immediately, turning towards the west. "I think he flew off in that direction. Let's go!" And with that, Luffy raced off into the palace, with Asuna, Donald and Goofy racing behind him.

* * *

**Chapter 7: Nico Robin & the Poneglyph**

Down in the streets of Alubarna, away from the fighting, Mrs. All-Sunday was forcing Cobra to lead her ahead along a path towards their next destination. "That name. He called you 'Nico Robin'. Is that really your name?" Cobra asked the woman behind him. "Why should that matter?" Mrs. All-Sunday replied, "Don't you have more important things to worry about?"

"Nico Robin. That name was well know throughout the world 20 years ago." Cobra recalled, "What is it you came here for?" "Just shut up and show me to where the Poneglyph is kept." she responded.

Suddenly, a dozen or so Heartless appeared in front of the two, fidgeting towards them. "Those creatures again." Cobra gasped. "It looks like they want to steal our hearts." Mrs. All-Sunday stated, observing their movement. She was well prepared to take them on herself, but not until she heard someone's voice from a distance.

"It's you again!" shouted Kirito's voice. She looked beyond the Heartless to see Kirito, Sora and Yui racing towards them. "There are a bunch of Heartless attacking them!" Yui pointed out, "What should we do?" "What do you think? We save them and take out the Heartless!" Sora replied, brandishing his Keyblade. "Alright then." Kirito followed, racing along side Sora with his 'Mark of Courage' Keyblade.

The trio went to work, taking down all of the Heartless while Cobra and Mrs. All-Sunday watched them fight. It took a little over a minute, but the trio cleaned up the streets of all the Heartless.

The three turned to the woman before them. "Nice to see you again, Mrs. All-Sunday." Sora stated, "Thanks for giving us a ride here." "I really wasn't expecting us to meet like this." Mrs. All-Sunday replied bluntly, "That straw hat captain and your friends really are persistent. Though it is like I told those three before; stop meddling with the world's affairs."

"You really are confusing, you know that?" barked Kirito, "First you help us come here, then you try to tell us to leave? You're making my head spin here!" "And besides, the Heartless are already causing trouble to your world. We have to stop them, whether you like it or not!" Sora added. The two boy glared at Mrs. All-Sunday, who remained neutral during their speech.

"I think she's just not being honest with us." Yui muttered, drawing everyone's attention, "She wants us to stop the Heartless, but is just not admitting it." The boys looked down at Yui, then up at the woman, who begun walking towards them with Cobra. She passed their group, and continued on her path.

"Hey, where're you going?" Kirito asked her. "That's none of your business." she replied. "Screw that! You're not giving us a straight answer!" Kirito retorted. "_Uno Fluer…Strangle!_" she said, crossing her arms. An arm grew out of Kirito's shoulder and started choking Kirito's neck. He gagged as he feel to his knees, trying to pull her arm off.

"Stop it!" Sora shouted as he and Yui grabbed the arm and pried it off of Kirito's neck. The arm disappeared in a shower of flower petals, and Mrs. All-Sunday uncrossed her arms. Kirito coughed a bit as he massaged his throat, looking up at the woman. She looked back at them for a second. "If you want to come, be my guest." she told them, "I'm in a hurry, so don't think I'll help you." "Fair enough…" groaned Kirito as he got to his feet again. The woman walked on with Cobra, while the trio followed them.

The team walked along the path, going towards their next destination. Kirito was unsure of what the man she was holding hostage was for, but he wasn't gonna do anything about it since the woman almost choked him to death. She could have choked all three of them with her powers, but she didn't. Why was she allowing them to follow her? More Heartless, along with some Unversed, came in their path, but the trio took them out before continuing onward.

They arrived at a sanctuary called the Tomb of the Kings. The group went along the central pathway towards the central building, and stopped before the steps. "So this is the royal tomb." Mrs. All-Sunday stated, looking up the steps, "Where's the Poneglyph?" Cobra looked to her, then walked over to a statue of a half fish, half cat figure next to them.

"I need to twist this statue around." Cobra told her. Mrs. All-Sunday turned to the trio behind them, who understood that she needed them to do so. Kirito stepped forward, and Cobra told him where to push. Fortunately, it wasn't too hard to turn the statue 90 degrees. Suddenly, a part of the lawn opened up, revealing some secret stairs that lead downward. "Let's go." Mrs. All-Sunday told the group, and they went down the steps, the woman first.

As the team descended, Kirito asked the question that was on his mind. "You still haven't told me why you saved us, or why you aren't stopping us from following you." he told the woman. "It would be a waste of my time trying to stop you." Mrs. All-Sunday replied, "Besides, you people are the only ones who can stop the Heartless, right?" "Yeah?" Kirito replied. "Then that's all you need to know." she responded.

"By the way, that Crocodile called you 'Nico Robin' before." Sora started, "Is that your real name?" The woman looked back at him. "Why should it matter to you?" she asked, "You aren't even from this world." "I know!" Sora defended himself, "It's just that your real name sounds a lot better that 'Mrs. All-Sunday'. Is it okay if we call you 'Robin'?"

The woman looked curiously at the boy, then replied, "Do what you wish." "Okay, Robin." Sora stated happily, leaning back as he continued to follow. Kirito and Yui looked to him, smiling a bit. Unknown to the others, Robin looked down and smiled as well. Hearing that boy enjoy her real name did satisfy her a bit.

They arrived at the bottom of the stairs, walking along a passageway that looked almost like an Egyptian tomb. There were hieroglyphics in different parts. "This place is quite impressive." Robin acknowledged. "It's like something out of the pyramids of Egypt." Kirito stated, looking all about the place. "I was thinking more of the Cave of Wonders back in Agrabah." Sora added.

"Both are close, but the structure of this tomb is much different compared to them." Yui pointed out. "We're not saying they're EXACTLY the same, just a bit like them." Kirito corrected them. "I know." Yui replied happily, "I just wanted to point that out." "You mean you want to get smart with us." Sora corrected her, rubbing her hair and making her giggle. Robin watched the trio's playful attitude, feeling a bit envious deep down.

"The Poneglyph is located behind the doors in the back of the tomb." Cobra told the group. Robin refocused her objective, and marched forward, with the other three behind her. They continued on the path until they found a set of large double doors in front of them. Robin stepped forward and pulled them open, to reveal a large room in front of them, and in the center of the room contain a large cube made of an unknown material, with ancient writing written on the side of it.

All of the group entered in and gasped at the sight of the stone cube. "What is that?" Sora gasped. "I think that's the Poneglyph." Kirito guessed. "I don't know why, but just seeing it looks at it excites me." Yui expressed herself. "There it is." Robin muttered, "The Poneglyph. I finally found it." The three looked to her, and saw her smile. But it wasn't a sly one, but a genuine smile. This thing in front of her was bringing her happiness.

Meanwhile, Luffy was racing along the streets, with Asuna, Donald and Goofy in tow. "Do you have any idea where they might be?!" Donald shouted. "No idea, but we have to keep looking for Crocodile!" Luffy shouted back. "So we're just running around blindly until can find something?!" Asuna yelled at him, "We don't have time for this at all!"

Luffy came to a stop and turned to the other three. "Okay, then where should we start?" Luffy asked them. Asuna and Donald looked to one another, thinking. "Let's try over there!" Goofy suggested, pointing towards a place beyond. The team turned to see a small temple off in the distance, which was the Tomb of the Kings. "That's good enough for me!" Luffy replied, declaring a war cry as he charged ahead. "Wait for us, Luffy!" Asuna shouted, racing after him.

Back underneath the temple, Sora, Kirito, and Cobra watched from the sidelines as Robin examined the Poneglyph, reading the text to which she could only understand. Yui was right next to her, looking up and down the slab. "What's it say?" she asked Robin, who did not answer. Kirito and Sora looked to one another. Either she wasn't saying, or she was too transfixed by it.

After a minute, Robin looked back at Cobra. "Are there any others around?" she questioned him, "Is this all that your country is hiding?" "I've kept the word I have given to you." Cobra responded. "…You did." she sighed. "Why? What does it say?" Sora asked as he and Kirito walked up to her. She looked back at them, wondering if she should answer.

Suddenly, more footsteps came from behind, and the group turned to see Crocodile walked towards them. "Just like any national secret, you can't find it unless you know where it already is." he stated. "Crocodile!" barked Kirito, whipping his Keyblade out. Sora and Yui did the same.

Crocodile stopped at the sight of them. "So here's the rest of the vermin." he stated, "I thought my Heartless took care of at least you three, but I guess I was wrong." "Where's Asuna?" Kirito demanded. "Where's Luffy?" Sora added. "Ah, Straw Hat and your friends?" Crocodile recalled, then he chuckled, "I took care of them. They shouldn't be causing us any more trouble."

Kirito, Sora and Yui were horrified at these words. "No, you didn't…" Kirito gasped, then he shouted, "Bastard!" he ran at Crocodile, with Sora and Yui behind him. "_Sables!_" shouted Crocodile, sending a sand twister at the three, causing them to fly away from him and crash into the nearby wall.

They struggled to get up as Crocodile walked up to Robin. "So this is the Poneglyph." Crocodile stated, "Were you able to decipher it?" "Yes." Robin replied. "Good. Now read it out loud. What does this thing say?" Robin looked back at the Poneglyph, paused as to where to start then started. She listed down a history of previous rulers that once ruled the land of Alabasta Kingdom, along with what year they ruled. However, Crocodile's irritable face said that this wasn't right.

"Hey, hold on!" he growled, "I don't care about this desert's history. I want to know about the whereabouts of the worlds most dangerous military weapon that's hiding in this kingdom. Where is the Pluton hidden?!"

"Pluton?" Kirito asked, getting to his feet, "What the hell is that?" "A weapon that can destroy islands with a single shot." Crocodile explained, which startled the trio. "Destroy islands?" Sora repeated. "In a single shot?!" Yui gasped horrified. "That's right. With it, I can have full control of this land and the rest of the Grand Line." Crocodile stated, turning back to Robin, "And according to resources, it should be on this Poneglyph. Now tell me where is it?!"

Robin looked back at Crocodile as she answered, "That information isn't on here. History is the only thing that this contains." "What? That's all?" Crocodile asked. "Pluton. It isn't mentioned on this Poneglyph at all." Robin replied plainly. Kirito looked from the two to Cobra, who looked surprised for some reason.

There was a long pause, during which no one moved. "Not mentioned at all." Crocodile echoed Robin's words, "I see. That's unfortunate." Robin and the heroes looked to him curiously. "You've been an excellent partner. But I think I'll kill you right here." Crocodile declared. Robin looked startled as she stepped back. "What?!" Kirito exclaimed as Sora and Yui gasped.

"You remember the terms I had given to you four years ago?" Crocodile asked, "I was to show you where the Poneglyph was, and in return, you would show me where the Pluton was. Your work for the organization was splendid. But in the end, you betrayed me, Nico Robin!"

He took a swipe at Robin with his hook, who ducked the attack as the hook took the hat off of her. He attempted another strike, but Kirito got in between him and Robin, and blocked his hook with his Keyblade. "What the hell is wrong with you?!" Kirito growled, struggling as the hook was around the stem of his weapon, "You can't get what you want, so you start throwing a tantrum? That pretty childish if you ask me." Kirito shoved Crocodile back as Sora and Yui joined Kirito, protecting Robin.

"This isn't your fight, Keyblade wielders!" shouted Crocodile, "Step out of my way!" "No way!" Kirito shouted back. "This may have not been our fight at first…" Sora started, "But…" "We'll make it our fight right now!" declared Sora, Kirito and Yui in unison.

Crocodile examined the trio in front of him, then at Robin, who stood anxiously behind them. "You misunderstand my condition." he stated, "I don't feel any anger towards you. And do you know why, Nico Robin?"

"Heh. All right, I admit I was expecting something like this from you. That's why I was more than ready." she stated, and the trio turned to see her pull out a vial of water from her coat. She tossed it at Crocodile, and an arm appeared from his shoulder, catching the vial. Robin pulled out a dagger from her waist and charged past the trio at Crocodile.

"If you get wet, then a knife should go right into you!" she declared. The arm tossed the vial onto Crocodile, but he turned to sand before it made contact, and it shattered on the floor. Robin stopped as the team looked around, wondering where he went to.

Suddenly, Crocodile appeared from behind Robin, and stabbed her straight through the chest with his hook. The trio was horrified as they witnessed this attack. "ROBIN!" shouted Sora as Crocodile relinquished his hook from Robin's chest, causing her to collapse to the ground, blooding coming out of the wound from her back. "Why did you that?!" demanded Yui. Crocodile looked to them, his hook dripping with blood. "Because…I never trusted her in the first place." he responded plainly, "I knew not to be as foolish as that!"

"You're a monster!" Kirito gasped, all the anger boiling over. He charged at Crocodile, his Keyblade raised. Crocodile stood there, thinking his attack would phase right through him. What he hadn't expected was for Kirito's Keyblade to make contact with his side, and sending him flying into the wall, crashing into it.

Kirito stood there, both angered and surprised that he attacked him. "He struck him!" Cobra gasped. "Of course! The Keyblade has magical properties that can allow papa to attack Crocodile! The same goes for my tessen since it isn't of this world!" Yui realized. Sora completely forgot about that thing. It was like back in Jack Sparrow's world, when they were able to attack the undead pirates in their skeletal forms. "Oh, yeah." Sora recalled.

Kirito turned back to Robin, and the trio rushed over to her side. "Robin!" Kirito gasped, kneeling down and turning her over. She was bleeding greatly from the crevice in her chest, but she was still breathing. "She's alive!" Yui gasped in relief. "Guess the people in this world are tough." Sora assumed.

Kirito got to his feet again and raised his Keyblade. "_Heal!_" he shouted, and his Cure spell took affect on Robin. Her breathing slowed down a bit as the pain started to fade, and she opened her eyes to them. "Th-Thank you." she thanked them weakly. "Just rest here." Kirito told her, turning to where Crocodile was at, "I'm gonna kick this asshole to oblivion!"

As Crocodile got to his feet again, the tomb started to rumble like an earthquake, making the team look around. "What's happening?!" Sora gasped looking at the pieces of debris fall from the ceiling. "That attacked you just did caused the tomb to initiate its' trap." Cobra explained, "If at least one column is disturbed enough, the whole tomb will collapse on itself!" "WHAT?!" gasped the trio. "Then we don't have much time!" Yui exclaimed. "We have to run away from here!" Kirito declared.

They were about to race to the door when Crocodile got in their path. "You three are not getting away from me!" he growled, his body producing the dark aura, "I'll make sure you are buried along with the rest of this tomb!" "But that means you'll be buried with us!" Kirito pointed out.

"No matter. I can just turn the ceiling into sand and escape from here!" Crocodile laughed, "My plans are not over yet. If the Pluton can't be found, then I'll just settle with the Heartless! My military might will allow me to reign supreme over this land!" Crocodile continued to laugh as the trio stood there, ready to shut him up, and save everyone in the tomb.

* * *

**Chapter 8: Vs. Warlord Crocodile**

_(Cue KHII 'The Encounter' music)_

Kirito, Sora and Yui readied themselves against Crocodile, and charged as one at him. Crocodile attempted a hook slash, but the trio dodged from either side. Sora came around and slashed him a couple times, followed by Yui, who performed her Fan-Fair technique.

Kirito was about to go in, but Crocodile used Desert Spada to send Kirito flying. Sora jumped at him, but Crocodile grabbed Sora's desert robe and sent him flying into Yui. Kirito got to his feet again and threw off the robe he was wearing. "Damn, this guy isn't fooling around with us." Kirito growled, "In that case, let's try this…_NORA Soul!_"

In a cutscene, Kirito's uniform changed from bottom to top. A blizzard storm formed an ice barrier in front. Kirito shattered the ice with his fist, making his appearance. He brought his fist back, and thumped both fists together as he casually stepped forward. "_Time for the hero to make his appearance!_" Kirito quoted, his Keyblade appearing in his hand as he hooked his fist out front.

Kirito shot out with a double Blizzard spell at Crocodile, who used his sand powers to block the attack. However, the sand parted as Kirito charged right through, tossing his Keyblade into the air and struck Crocodile with his fist. However, his fist went right through the sand man's body. Kirito was stunned at first, but realized it was his weapon that did the damage, not himself.

Kirito went right through Crocodile and came out the other side of him. "You're trying the same technique as that Straw Hat, but it's pointless." Crocodile explained, reforming his body again and turning to him. "Okay, that wasn't smart." Kirito snarled, "Guess I should've used 'Hyrule Soul' instead."

His Keyblade fell back into his hand as he stood straight up again. He then charged once more at Crocodile, who didn't move. "In that case, let's try this!" shouted Kirito, slashing with his Keyblade. Crocodile used Sables to push Kirito back again, knocking him straight into the wall.

"Not so fast!" shouted Sora, coming up from behind Crocodile and slashing him repeatedly with his Keyblade. He backed off as Crocodile performed another sand twister, but Yui used her Whirlwind, making it spin in the opposite direction of Crocodile's twister. The two collided and canceled each other out.

Crocodile turned to them as Kirito got to his feet again. "This ain't over. Not by a long shot!" he shouted, racing at Crocodile, who looked back at him. "How about this!" shouted Kirito, and he went into his Icicle Drift Finisher, slamming into Crocodile, finally making contact. The man was knocked away, soaring over Sora and Yui and crashing into a fallen pillar.

Kirito ran up to the two and nodded to each of them. They nodded back and raced at Crocodile, who got to his feet again. Kirito leapt into the air as Yui and Sora raced forward, the trio about to strike Crocodile. "_Barján!_" shouted Crocodile, creating a crescent-shaped path of sand in front of him. It made contact with Sora and Yui's weapon arms, along with Kirito's leg. Crocodile walked right passed as they fell to the floor.

Kirito looked at his leg, seeing it shriveled up. "What the hell? My leg!" shouted Kirito grasping his leg. "My arm! It's dried up!" Sora shouted, grasping his withered arm. Yui was crying in pain, rolling around as she held her arm. "You three are just as foolish as those friends of yours!" Crocodile stated, "But you are lucky. I drained the Straw Hat's body of all moisture, and he's nothing but a dried up body now."

He laughed as the trio glowered at him, holding their dried up appendages. "Now it's time to say goodbye, Keyblade wielders!" Crocodile shouted, raising his hand as it started to produce sand. The trio were frozen on the floor, unable to move out of fear and pain.

Suddenly, the team started hear a familiar battle cry, along with three other battle cries and the sound of large pieces of stone being broken to bits. All four of them looked to a wall near them, which started to crack at first, then it exploded, and out of it came Luffy, Asuna, Donald and Goofy, leaping over the wall and skidding to a halt in between the trio and Crocodile.

"Luffy!" cheered Sora. "Asuna!" gasped a beaming Kirito. "Donald! Goofy! You're okay!" shouted Yui. "There you are, Crocodile!" growled Luffy, staring at the petrified man, unable to comprehend his existence here. "So it's you four!" he asked, "No matter how many times I kill you, you just keep coming back for more. How are you still alive?!"

"Those four people. How did they manage to escape Crocodile without dying and come here?" Cobra asked. "It's them. Straw Hat and the others." Robin moaned, seeing the whole group back together again.

"Oh my gosh! Look what he did to you!" gasped Asuna, seeing Sora, Kirito and Yui's conditions. "Yeah. This is a bit of a setback." Kirito sighed, displaying his withered leg. "Easily remedied." Asuna replied, pulling out her Keyblade, "Open wide! _Watera!_" She showered her water spell all over them, and the trio started drinking down the liquid. Miraculously, their appendages were restored to normal, and they got up again.

"That's better." said Kirito, stomping the ground with his recovered foot, "Thanks for the save there." "No problem." Asuna replied, seeing Sora spin his arm around as Yui examined hers, "But I used up my remaining magic power right now. I have to wait until it is restored."

"There's still something you haven't given back yet." Luffy told Crocodile, "Give back Vivi's land right now!" "The land? Don't be ridiculous!" Crocodile spat, "I have no intention on give it back to that spoiled princess. Not when I'm gonna be its' next ruler!" "When we came to this land, we found Vivi's home was gone!" Luffy growled, "You stole her country. And I intend to get it back. Only then will Vivi smile again!" Luffy prepared himself to attack Crocodile.

"It's gonna be tough fighting Crocodile now." Asuna stated, "I can't use magic for a while, and we don't have anymore water." "No problem." Kirito replied, "We can still beat Crocodile without that spell. Our weapons are able to hit him, so it shouldn't be a problem." "Seriously?" Asuna asked, turning to him, "I had no idea. Well, that makes our battle a lot easier. Now if Luffy can only hit him, we could…"

Asuna's sentence was stopped abruptly as the sound of Luffy kicking Crocodile, knocking him to the floor. "How did he…?!" gasped Asuna. "Look!" Donald pointed to Luffy's fists and bare feet. They were dripping slightly with blood. "Of course! Blood is like water; it can harden sand just as well." Yui realized. "Which means all of us can beat him!" Goofy stated.

Crocodile got back to his feet again. "I am really getting tired of all of this!" Crocodile snarled, "I'm going to kill each and everyone of you here and now!" He grabbed his hook and took off the golden part of his hook, revealing the inside, which was silver and had many holes in it. Something purple was dripping out of it, and it sizzled on the floor.

"What is that?" Luffy asked. "A poisonous hook." Crocodile, "It is filled with deadly scorpion venom. One touch and your dead." "We just got to avoid the hook, right?" Asuna asked, "Then we just have to keep our distance from that thing!" All six fighter got behind Luffy, facing Crocodile, who laughed at the group. "This will be our final battle, so lets settle this, once and for all!" he boomed, "Fall! Fall with this crumbling tomb!"

Luffy and Kirito charged in first. Luffy jumped and used Gum-Gum Pistol whiles Kirito came in with an Icicle Drift. Crocodile jumped to avoid the attack, and attempted to swipe at Kirito. Sora used Thunder, but Crocodile was immune to the damage. However it was just the distraction Goofy need to charge in and block Crocodile with his shield, giving Kirito a clean escape.

Crocodile used Desert Spada on Goofy, but he jumped in time to avoid getting hit by it. "_Gum-Gum Whip!_" shouted Luffy, sending his extended leg in a curve towards Goofy and Crocodile. Goofy ducked, but Crocodile wasn't so fortunate. He was taken a hit, and sent flying backwards, and Luffy retracted his leg. "Watch where you aim that thing!" Kirito barked at him.

More parts of the ceiling collapsed, and the team separated. Kirito, Goofy and Yui got stuck behind some rubble while Donald was squawking in pain, pulling his foot out from under a rock. This left Sora, Asuna and Luffy to deal with Crocodile. Asuna charged in with a speedy blitz of jabs at Crocodile, who backed up just in time. He send another Desert Spada at her, but Sora slammed his Keyblade into the ground just in time, stopping the attack from reaching her. Luffy shot his fist at Crocodile, who dodged to the side. He tried slashing Luffy with his poison hook, but Luffy curved his arm away, almost getting cut by it.

Donald freed his foot and shot a Blizzard spell at Crocodile, which made contact. As he got hit, Luffy retracted his arm, and the four stood there, panting slightly from exhaustion. It was just one battle after another these heroes went through.

Sora and Luffy charged in once more. "_Gum-Gum Pistol!_" shouted Luffy, shooting his fist at Crocodile, who raised a hand to stop and drain it. Luffy stopped his attack, and Sora dived in with a Slapshot, damaging Crocodile. He retaliated by slashing at Sora, who tried to dodge, but his arm got cut from the hook as he backed off. Crocodile ended up striking a nearby boulder, which melted away from the poison.

Sora grabbed his arm, feeling the sting of the attack as the poison seeped into him. "Sora!" shouted Luffy. "He got hit!" Asuna gasped. Crocodile grinned as Sora stood there. "Now the poison will seep into your veins, and you will die very soon!" he chortled.

"Not if I have to say anything about it!" Yui exclaimed, now free of the rubble and racing towards the group, "There's still one trick I haven't used yet." She folded up her fan and raised up above her. "_Esuna!_" she shouted, and a sparkle of green energy shot into the air and down upon Sora. He looked down at his wound to feel the sting go away.

"What's this?" Crocodile asked, looking at Sora. "I just cured his poison!" Yui stated, "I won't let you harm any of my friends with that venom of yours." "Nice one, Yui!" cheered Asuna as Luffy grinned at her. Kirito and Goofy joined Yui's side, and the group all charged once again at Crocodile.

The fight continued on, now with their minds eased up a bit thanks to Yui's status-healing powers. However, with Crocodile's sand powers, hand-to-hand combat, the falling rubble and the enclosed space, it was difficult for the team to do a whole lot to Crocodile. Kirito already used up his Soul Drive Form, which wasn't as big of a deal since he couldn't fight as well against Crocodile in that form. All the while, Crocodile and the injured Robin continued to watch their battle, both hoping for the heroes' succession.

Kirito and Crocodile made contact with one another, and Kirito got poisoned. Yui performed Esuna again, healing Kirito's status ailment. "I can't use Esuna anymore!" Yui told him, "I need an ether to restore my magic again!" "Right, ether!" Kirito replied, reaching into his pocket to pull one out.

Just then, the ceiling above them gave way, and the two got consumed in a dust cloud. "Yui!" Kirito coughed, "Are you okay?" He swiped the dust cloud away, and saw that Yui was on the ground on the other side of the rubble. Kirito hurriedly ran over to her and bent down to examine her. She was unconscious. "Yui…" Kirito muttered.

He heard Goofy's cry, and he looked up to see Goofy bash Crocodile upwards, and Asuna, who's magic power was restored a while ago, fired a Watera spell up at him, dousing and damaging him. Luffy slingshot himself up above Crocodile, and slammed him downwards, but not before getting a cut from his poison hook.

As Crocodile crashed into the ground, Luffy landed back to Asuna, Sora, Goofy and Donald's side. "I got poisoned." he told them. "Right. Yui!" shouted Sora, "Luffy's poisoned! Heal him!" "There's one problem with that." Kirito responded, racing over with Yui in his arms, "Yui got hit by some rubble and went unconscious." "Oh no!" gasped Asuna. "But without her…" Goofy started. "We can't cure the poison in Luffy."

Just then, they heard Crocodile chuckle. They turned to see the man get up onto his feet again. "There's no escaping death for you now, Straw Hat." he told Luffy, "The poison will soon spread all over your body, numbing it and finally, killing you on the spot! Are you truly willing to die for all of this; just for someone else's goal?"

The others wondered how to retaliate. "You really don't get it, do you?" Luffy asked, "Vivi has told me before that she doesn't want other people dying for her, and yet she's risking her life for everyone else. If we don't help her, she'll die."

"Same goes for us." Sora followed, "Every world we go, every friend we meet, no matter who they are, we protect them, even with our lives. Even if it's out of the way, even if there's no reward for it, we help them out. If we don't save those people, they will die. So if Vivi needs our help, we'll do just that."

"You still don't get it." Crocodile growled, "The princess, and all those people you talk about, are nothing but burdens. Why not just ditch them and save yourself?" "Because none of us wants Vivi to die! Helping each other out is what friends do!" shouted Sora and Luffy in unison. "That's why we won't leave Vivi behind…" Luffy started. "We won't sever the bonds we have with one another…" Sora stated. "As long as we're here with our friends, we will never give up!" They declared.

Kirito laid Yui down near where Robin was at, looking back after the two finished their speech. Asuna, Donald and Goofy all prepared themselves for combat. Sora and Luffy prepared themselves as well, and the group charged at Crocodile in unison. The warlord attempted another Desert Spada, but the team easily dodged it. Asuna fired a Watera spell, and Donald shot a Blizzard spell, and together, they blasted Crocodile, freezing his hook. "This can't be!" Crocodile gasped, seeing what had happened.

Goofy jumped up and slammed his shield on top of Crocodile's head, followed by Sora, who slashed him across the chest. Luffy took Crocodile's hook arm, and slammed it into the ground, shattering the hook. "I'm the man who's gonna be King of the Pirates!" shouted Luffy, "And I'm the man…who's gonna beat you!"

Luffy stretched his arm back and slammed Crocodile hard in the chest, causing him to spout blood. He soared across the passageway, but Luffy grabbed him and brought him back, slamming him into the ground. Sora joined in the attack, jumping up high into the air and bringing the Keyblade down upon Crocodile, damaging him further.

The duo backed off from Crocodile, who was stunned from the attack. Luffy stumbled a bit. The poison was taking its' affect on him. "Hurry it up, now!" shouted Kirito. "Let's do it, Luffy!" Sora exclaimed, and they went into the 'Rubber Wonder' Limit Break.

Luffy puffed his body up like a balloon, and Sora knocked him into the air. He jumped up after him, his Keyblade at the ready. The two begun to perform 'Curve Balloon' and 'Spike Balloon' one after another, not giving Crocodile a second to retaliated. Finally, the two landed onto the ground, sending a shockwave that shot Crocodile up to the ceiling.

For extra measure, Asuna got onto Goofy's shield, which he positioned over his head, and she jumped high into the air, sending a plethora of jabs at Crocodile, ending with one final jab that shoved Crocodile even higher up.

"I won't die here!" Crocodile shouted, looking at Luffy and the six heroes, "My plans will become a reality! Fall with this tomb, and let the desert sand bury you!" Crocodile started charging up another sand twister, more dangerous than the last. "_Sables: Pesado!_" he shouted, sending the twister down, causing a massive shockwave that spread throughout the tomb. Everyone held their ground, especially Luffy, as they endured the attack. Asuna quickly made a dive to Robin, who was in range of the attack, and took her away just in time.

Once the attack was over, Luffy continued with the Limit Break final attack. Luffy twisted his blown up body around, then blew out the air, sending himself spinning up at Crocodile.

"_Desert…_" Crocodile started, producing a massive amount of sand power. "_Gum-Gum…_" Luffy started, preparing his fists. "_…Ia Spada!_" shouted Crocodile, sending sand down that formed into four solid blades upon Luffy. "_…Storm!_" shouted Luffy, sending his fists up at Crocodile.

The two attacks made contact, and Luffy's fists turned the blades into sand as they continued towards Crocodile. The stunned warlord saw it coming, and was unable to dodge. He started getting pound immensely by the storm of fists coming from Luffy, sending him higher and higher into the ceiling until he crashed into it. But it didn't just stop there. The attack continued until Luffy finally blasted Crocodile straight through the bedrock beneath the city, sending him high into the sky. Luffy stopped the attack and retracted his fists as he fell back to the tomb below, where everyone was watching him with happy expressions.

In the town square, Zoro, Nami, Ussop, Sanji and Chopper were trying their hardest to knock out all of the army members without killing them. And explosion drew their attention, and they turned to see Crocodile flying in the air. Vivi was standing at the top of a clock tower, gazing at the sight of her worst enemy up in the sky. "I don't know how he got there, but I know what it means." Sanji smirked. "See? I knew it all along! He defeat Crocodile!"

The five pirates and the five heroes all cheered the same words: "Luffy did it! He won!"

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**Chapter 9: The Cloud's & Robin's Tears**

Sora and Goofy both caught Luffy before he fell. Luffy was grinning happily as he laid in their arms. "Way to go, Luffy!" cheered Sora. "I swear, you nearly gave me a heart attack with that final move!" Asuna told her, "But it's over. We defeated him." Donald collapsed on the ground, sighing in relief. Kirito was kneeling next to Yui, happy to see the victory. Robin sat up against the wall and stared at the group before them.

Sora looked up and saw three magic orbs fall down to them. "Is this more magic?" Sora asked as the orbs fell down to him and Asuna, and the other one went to Kirito aways from them. The orbs went into their bodies, and they felt the new power. "It feels like…fire." Asuna expressed the feeling. "Must be Fire Elements." Sora guessed, "So that means our Fire is now Fira."

Sora, Asuna, Donald and Goofy walked over, carrying Luffy over to Kirito and Yui, laying him down near where Cobra was at. As they did so, they heard something over the collapsing boulders from all around them. It was dripping coming from the hole beyond them, and turned. First it was one drip, then another, and finally, the dripping became a pattering of water droplets, hitting the ground from the hole above.

"Is that…?" Asuna started. "It's rain." Sora answered plainly. "But I thought the country didn't have any rain?" Goofy asked. "It does now." Kirito responded, smiling softly as the rain poured in, "With Crocodile gone, the clouds can finally shed their tears of joy."

Cobra looked at the group before him, who noticed him watching. They all turned to him as he crawled forward to their group. "Are you all alright?" he asked them. Sora nodded in response. "We're okay." Asuna replied. There was a pause from both sides, then Cobra bowed to them as he said, "I thank you." Everyone smiled at his thankfulness. "No sweat." Luffy replied weakly.

Luffy then dropped his grin as his head rolled to one side. "Luffy?" Kirito asked, putting his hand to Luffy's chest. His breathing was weakening and slowing down. "We gotta cure him of the poison!" Asuna told the group. "But with Yui knocked out, wha'dya think we should do?" Goofy asked the group. The others were unable to find an answer. They all started to show signs of hopelessness.

Just then, a small vial rolled next to Asuna, who saw it next to her. She looked up towards the direction where it came from, and saw Robin sitting there. "Use that. It will neutralize the poison." she told them. Asuna paused as she looked to her, then to Kirito, who nodded in a way to say that she could be trusted. Asuna uncorked the vial, held Luffy's head up and poured the antidote into him.

Cobra looked back at Robin for a second, then he started. "You told me before that the only thing written on the Poneglyph was history. Why did you lie?" Everyone looked up and turned from Cobra to Robin, who bowed her head. "You knew? How cruel…" "The Poneglyph doesn't contain history, but everything about the weapon, Pluton, including where it was. If you told Crocodile, he could've easily taken this country. So why?"

"I don't really care if the people in this country live or die. It doesn't make any difference to me. I had already decided not to give Crocodile the Pluton from the very beginning." "Then why did you come here?" Cobra asked. "I don't really know." Robin replied, "I was chasing an empty dream, I guess."

"What kind of dream?" Sora asked her. "The one last Poneglyph that contains the true history of this world: the Rio Poneglyph." "True history?" Asuna repeated, "What do you mean?" "Nothing really." Robin answered, "It doesn't matter. For twenty years, I've been searching for that one Poneglyph, and this one was my last hope, only to find it wasn't what I was looking for. So if I'm gonna die here, I might as well get it over with."

A part of the ceiling collapsed close by them, sending a dust cloud that shadowed Robin's face for a few second. When it was uncovered, they saw that her eyes were filled with tears. "All I wanted to do was to learn about our true history…and to share it with the whole world." All of the group looked sympathetically at Robin, who's sniffles could be heard from their spot.

"So you're saying that our lost history could be uncovered?" Cobra asked, "And that the Poneglyphs are the keys to finding it?" Robin didn't answer, but her silence did confirm it. "You mean all this time…?" Cobra gasped. The group was unsure of what he or Robin were talking about, but they knew one thing; this woman desperately wanted to follow this dream of hers, only to have it crumble away like this.

Luffy started to move in Asuna's hands, and he got to his feet again. "You okay, Luffy?" Asuna asked. Luffy nodded. Kirito got to his feet as well. "Asuna, can you carry our daughter out of here?" he asked. "Yes, but…" Asuna started, but Kirito was already wandering his way over to where Robin sat. Luffy picked up Cobra in a fireman's lift while Asuna scooped Yui up in her arms.

Kirito stopped in front of Robin, who looked up at him. He reached down and, without her permission, picked her up and carried her over his shoulder. "Alright. Let's get moving." Kirito told the group. "Hold on!" Robin stopped him abruptly, "I don't have a reason to live. Just leave me here."

Kirito looked back at her, then towards the group. "Sorry, but I can't let you die. I couldn't live with myself if I did. We're getting you out of here, whether you like it or not." Everyone looked surprised at Kirito, but none more so than Robin. "C'mon!" he told the team, and he led the entire group out of the collapsing tomb, towards the stairs.

When they got out, they found the temple outside in shambles. It was heavily damaged to what happened from underneath. The sky was cloudy, and rain was pouring onto them. Kirito walked over and placed Robin next to a statue on the grass.

"Now you stay here and recover." Kirito told her as she looked up. "And if you think about going back in there again, I'll just bring you out once more and tie you down." Robin watched as Kirito walked over to the statue that triggered the stairs, and reverted it back to normal. The stairs hid themselves away into the grass once more. He turned to the team, and together they walked away from the temple, leaving Robin there, watching them leave.

They went down one street at first, then stopped. Luffy had fallen to the ground again. "Don't over exert yourself." Sora told him as Cobra got to his feet. Sora picked up Luffy and carried him on his back as Luffy rested. "That boy is simply amazing." Cobra stated, seeing Luffy's face.

"Kirito, I think you did the right thing with Robin there." Asuna told her boyfriend. "That person has a dream. She can't let it go so easily." Kirito stated, "And besides, I already promised myself I wouldn't let another one of my party members die again, and she's one of them."

Asuna smiled at him, then noticed that Yui was waking up in her arms. "Yui! Are you okay?" Asuna asked as Yui started to open her eyes. "What happened?" Yui asked weakly. "You were unconscious. But don't worry, everyone's fine now." Asuna assured her, "Plus, Luffy defeated Crocodile, and it's raining now. And from the silence, it sounds like the war is over." She was right. The only sound in the air right now was the pattering of raindrops. The dust devil was cleared, and the war silenced. "Vivi and the others did it." Donald assumed.

Yui held up a hand, feeling the rain fall upon it. "It feels…so nice." Yui described. "After three years. The rain has finally returned to Alabasta Kingdom." Cobra stated as the team looked up into the sky. After a pause, Asuna helped Yui to her feet, and the team marched on through the streets, heading towards the town square.

They decided to take things slow as the walked along. No Heartless appeared around them. Either they were gone or left the city. Either way, the team was grateful they didn't have to fight any more enemies. Cobra was hurt, but he was still able to walk. Luffy was just unconscious all this time.

"Found them!" said Sanji's voice. The team stopped to see Sanji, Chopper, Nami, and Zoro who was unceremoniously dragging Ussop along the ground by the foot. "Guys! You're safe!" cheered Sora. "Same to you." Zoro replied, dropping Ussop's foot, "But what about Luffy there?" "He'll be fine." Kirito replied, looking at the captain.

"Wait, hold on. Does this mean that you people are the ones who brought back Vivi to this kingdom?" Cobra asked, looking at the people in front of him, "Yeah, but how would you know?" Sanji asked suspiciously, "And just who are you anyway?"

"Daddy!" shouted Vivi's voice. Everyone turned to see her running straight to the group. "Daddy?" Sanji echoed, then after putting two and two together, he exclaimed, "Wait you're Vivi's dad?!" "That makes you the king." Zoro concluded. "King?" Sora gasped, as he, Donald and Goofy stared open-mouthed, "Wait, he's the king of this country? I had no idea!" "I kinda guessed, but I didn't truly know until know." Kirito stated, with Asuna nodding for the same reason.

"I would've been a dead king if it hadn't been for this boy and your group's bravery and strength." Cobra stated, turning to the six heroes. "Even after all that happened, you were able to rescue me and that woman out of the tomb before it collapsed." "Hey, helping people is what we do!" Sora stated bluntly as he laid Luffy next to a wall, "And since you're a king, that makes it even better."

"Shouldn't you two get going?" Zoro asked Vivi and Cobra, "It's only fitting for you two to talk to the rebel and soldier armies." "Right. And I should tell them about you guys, and how you saved the kingdom." Vivi suggested. "Vivi dear, please don't." Sanji responded, lighting a cigarette, "We're pirates. The last thing we need is our names and faces known."

"Then I guess you should leave our names out of the explanation as well." Kirito decided. "Are you sure?" Cobra asked. "It's just like Robin said; we shouldn't meddle with the way of the world." Kirito quoted, smirking at the group, "So let's not meddle." Asuna, Yui, Donald and Goofy all smiled at him. "Really? Cause, I wouldn't mind getting some credit for this." said Sora. "Sora?" Asuna and Donald growled at him. "Okay! Okay!" Sora defended himself.

"In fact, we should get going." Kirito suggested, "We got places to go, and more meddling to do." "Do you really have to leave?" Chopper asked. "I'm sure we'll meet again someday." Asuna assured him, "But other people need our help, and it's our duty to help them." "Just make sure you tell that rubber-boy captain of yours the same thing, okay?" Kirito asked Zoro. "Sure, I'll give him the message."

"Well, see ya later!" Sora waved as he and the other five walked away. "Take care!" Nami shouted. "Thank you so much, you guys!" shouted Vivi. "You are always welcomed here in Alabasta!" Cobra told them. The team smiled and nodded. They rounded the corner, where they couldn't be seen, and teleported back to the Gummi ship.

Once they got back, each of them arrived in their seat, except for Donald, who collapsed to the floor. "I'm tired." he moaned. "That world took a lot out of me." Asuna sighed, resting her head on the back of the seat. "Maybe we should rest before continuing." Yui suggested. "Good idea." Kirito and Sora answered in unison, and they immediately drifted off to sleep, along with Goofy, Asuna, Yui and Donald, resting before they continued their journey.

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**Was that long or what? But it was still filled with action, comedy, and touching moments. I made sure I gave the six heroes some good moments, and the battle at the end with Crocodile was certainly fun to write. Their second visit isn't gonna be AS long, but it will still be good. Anyways, leave a ****review, tell your friends, and be patient for the next episode.**

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**Next time on SAKII:**

**Sora: So this is your home?**

**Kirito: Yes, and our bodies are already in the hospital.**

**Asuna: This feels so creepy seeing my body there.**

**Sora: Look at this! This folder has Asuna's name on it.**

**Asuna: Let me see...oh my god! This can't be!**

**Kirito: What? ...No way! Asuna, you're...**

**Author: On the next Sword Art Kingdom II: Dimensional Bonds: In the Real World! Hidden Truths Revealed!**

**Sora, Kirito & Asuna: Let's unlock the path to our bonded hearts!**


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